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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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Chapt-„1 CopyrigRt^o... 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



SHORT INSTRUCTIONS 



FOR 



EVERY SUNDAY OF THE YEAR 



AND FOR 



THE PRINCIPAL FEASTS. 

From the French by 
Rev. THOMAS F. WARD, 

CHURCH OF ST. CHARLES BORROMEO, BROOJ^TfLN, N. Y. 






New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: 

BEN^IOER BROTHERS, 

Printers to the Holy Apostolic See. 
1897. 



l^^ 



The Library 
OF Congress 

WASHINOTOM 






Ifttbll ObBtnU 

Thos. L. Kinkead, 

Censor Librorum, 

Ifmprimatur* 

4i Michael Augustine, 

Archbishop of New York, 

New York, February 5, 1897. 



Copyright, 1897, by Benziger Brothers 



INTRODUCTION. 



T THINK it is true to say that at no time in the 
history of the Church, from the days of our 
. blessed Saviour to this very hour, has the word 
of God been more industriously proclaimed than at 
the present. And this is particularly true of our 
own country. 

The time was, and in our own recollection, when 
the faithful assembled and assisted at the holy 
sacrifice, and immediately departed. They were 
fully satisfied that the law of the Church had been 
complied with. They rarely, if ever, heard the 
gospel or the epistle read in the vernacular. The 
time was too limited, or the priest was burdened 
with other and pressing duties which would not 
allow of delay. Both priest and people were 
obliged to content themselves with a scant fulfil- 
ment of the Sunday precept. 

But this condition has ceased. The priests are now 
more numerous, and the arrangements for Sunday 
services have been perfected . There is now scarcely 
an assembly of the faithful where the word of God 
is not spoken. Our holy father, Leo XIII., ever 
watchful for the spiritual welfare of his flock, has 
directed that even at the Low Masses on Sunday, 



4 Introduction. 

some instruction should be invariably given to the 
faithful. No arguments are needed to convince us 
of the wisdom which prompted this command. 

This thought it was which suggested the transla- 
tion of these "Short Instructions," in the hope that 
they might prove helpful to the busy priest, and 
even useful to the pious laity; and thereby sup- 
plement the work- of religious instruction which is 
now so zealously carried on by the priests, and so 
much appreciated by the people. 

After reading these " Instructions" in the orig- 
inal, I did not hesitate to give them an English garb, 
as I found them well calculated both to instruct and 
to edify. The choice of subjects, the manner in 
which they are treated, the practical details, the 
correct and sometimes even elegant style, the sound 
doctrine, — in a word, to my mind, they possessed 
everything necessary to impart a knowledge of 
true devotion, and the means to advance in the way 
of perfection. 

Therefore, in the hope that they may prove to 
others as useful as they have been to me, I respect- 
fully submit these instructions to the kind consid- 
eration of priests and people. 

T. F. W. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 

The Two Advents 9 

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 

Jesus an Object of Scandal 15 

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 
St. John the Baptist a Model of Humility, . . . .20 

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 
The Dispositions for the Feast of Christmas 25 

CHRISTMAS DAY. 
The Stable of Bethlehem 31 

SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. 
Prophecy of Simeon Concerning Jesus and Mary, . . .36 

FEAST OF THE CIRCUMCISION. 

The Holy Name of Jesus, 42 

FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY. 

The Faith of the Wise Men, 48 

FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 
Jesus is Found in the Temple, 54 

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 
The Divinity of Christ Proved by His Miracles, . . .59 

THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 
Jesus Heals the Leper. . . . . . . , .66 

FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 

The Tempest Appeased by Jesus, 71 

FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 
The Mingling of the Good and the Wicked, . . . .76 



Contents. 



SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY, 
The Establishment of the Church, . 



SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 
The Parable of the Laborers and the Vineyard, 

SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY. 

The Word of God. 

QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 

Spiritual Blindness, 

ASH WEDNESDAY. 
Preparation for Death 

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT. 
The Institution of the Lenten Time, 

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT. 
Docility in Following the Voice of Jesus, 

THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT. 
Jesus Expels the Dumb Devil, 

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT. 
On Providence, ...... 

PASSION SUNDAY. 
The Testimony which Jesus Gives of Himself, 

PALM SUNDAY. 

The Cenacle 

EASTER SUNDAY. 
The Resurrection, ...... 

QUASIMODO. 
The Peace which Jesus Brings to the World. 

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 
Jesus the Good Shepherd, .... 

THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 

On Afflictions, 

FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 
Our Love for Jesus, ...... 



PAGE 

. 82 



. 88 



. 93 

. 98 

. 103 

. 108 

. 114 

. 119 

. 125 

. 131 

. 137 

. 143 

• 148 

. 153 

. 158 

. 164 



Contents, 7 

PAGE 
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 

On Prayer. 170 

SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 

The Holy Ghost, 176 

THE ASCENSION. 

On the Mystery, 182 

PENTECOST. 
On the Mystery, 188 

TRINITY SUNDAY. 
Our Duties towards the Trinity 194 

CORPUS CHRISTI. 
The Institution of the Feast and Our Duties, . . . 199 

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Eucharist, . . . 205 

THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
Devotion to the Sacred Heart, 211 

FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

On the Church, 217 

FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
On Christian Justice, . . 223 

SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
Confidence in God, ......... 229 

SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
On False Prophets, 235 

EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
The- Parable of the Unjust Steward, ..... 241 

NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem, 247 

TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST- 
The Pharisee and the Publican, 253 

ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
The Deaf Mute 259 



8 Contents. 

PAGE 
TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

The Good Samaritan, 265 

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
The Ten Lepers, 271 

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
"Behold the Lilies of the Field and the Birds of the Air," . 277 

FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
The Widow's Son Restored to Life, 282 

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
On Humility 288 

SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
Motives for Loving Jesus, ....... 294 

EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
Jesus Heals the Paralytic, , . . . . , . 301 

NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
The Wedding-Feast, . 307 

TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, 
Jesus Heals the Son of the Officer, 313 

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
The Insolvent Servant, 319 

TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
Render to Caesar the Things which are Caesar's, . . . 325 

TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
Resurrection of the Daughter of Jairus, 331 

TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 
The Trials of the Church 337 

FEAST OF ALL SAINTS. 
Difficulties and Recompense of Sanctity, .... 343 

ALL SOULS^ DAY. 
Commemoration of the Dead, ....... 348 



SHORT INSTRUCTIONS. 



FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 

THE TWO ADVENTS. 

rpirst Point, — At the beginning of the holy season 
of Advent, we are naturally led to consider 
• • the two comings of our blessed Saviour. The 
first, when He comes to save men ; and the second, 
when He shall come to judge them. These two 
comings are attended by very different circum- 
stances. In the first, it is a hidden God, who 
seems to fear manifesting Himself, and He veils 
His majesty under the charms of infancy. In the 
second, it shall be a terrible God, who will appear 
in splendor. His voice will resound as thunder, 
and will cause the powers of heaven to tremble. 
In the first coming the prophets represent Him to 
us as a gracious King, who comes in all kindness ; 
but in the other coming, they show Him to us with 
thunderbolts in His hands and indignation in His 
face. At the first coming, the shepherds and wise 
men kiss His feet and contemplate Him with love, 
while the angels invite men to rejoice. ''Behold, 
I announce to you tidings of great joy." Angels 



lo First Sunday of Advent. 

also will come to announce Him at the end of tim.e, 
but they will announce Him by a terrifying 
trumpet-sound, which shall awaken the dead in 
their tombs. At Bethlehem, everything calls for 
love and confidence, but at the end of the world 
everything will inspire fear and terror. At His 
first coming, the poor swaddling-clothes shall be 
the sign by which He will be recognized, but at His 
second coming, the sun eclipsed and the moon 
stained by blood shall be the signs of His advent. 
The first coming takes place in the silence of the 
night; the other, amid thunder and lightning. 
At Bethlehem, He is in a manger, in the stable; 
but then, He will be on a throne and will come 
in a brilliant cloud. What relations can these two 
comings have, so widely different in their circum- 
stances and in their objects, that the Church, which 
does nothing except in profound wisdom, begins 
the holy season, when she prepares her children 
for the coming of Christ the Saviour, by the spec- 
tacle of Jesus as our Judge ? She wishes that the 
remembrance of the one should serve as a prepara- 
tion for the other. By fear of the judgments which 
Jesus shall render as sovereign Judge of the uni- 
verse, she wishes to determine our rebellious hearts 
to profit by the mysteries of love which Jesus our 
Liberator will teach us. Fear smooths the way 
to love, and we shall understand better the benefit 
of redemption in all its extent when we shall be 
vividly impressed by the rigor of those judgments 
from which this benefit will preserve us. Let us, 



The Two Advents, . ii 

therefore, enter into the spirit of the Church, our 
mother, and by contemplating Jesus in the clouds 
which will serve as a tribunal, we shall dispose 
ourselves to adore Him in the manger which serves 
Him as a cradle. 

Second Point, — Let us consider the signs which 
shall announce the second coming of the Son of 
God, and the principal circumstances which will 
accompany His coming. The sun will refuse its 
light to terrified men ; the moon will appear as if 
stained by blood ; the sea in frightful convulsions, 
threatening to overflow its barriers; densest dark- 
ness will cover the earth as with a thick veil of 
mourning; angels will come to announce that the 
end of time has arrived — the human race awaiting, 
in consternation, in frightful anxiety, the end which 
these sad signs foretell. 

However, the destruction of the universe is not 
the most appalling in the last scenes which will 
terminate all the scenes of the world. For what is 
it, after all, that the world should be effaced, when 
we know that it must perish? But on the ruins of 
the world, the Son of man, announced by so many 
prodigies, preceded by justice, surrounded by maj- 
esty, comes from heaven in all the pomp of His 
power, in the midst of the acclamations of the heav- 
enly court, who attend Him ! What a contrast be- 
tween glory and destruction, between life and death ! 
Behold the picture which the Prophet Daniel has 
made of it : "I beheld attentively, until the thrones 
were placed, and the Ancient of days was seated. 



12 First Sunday of Advent, 

His throne was like flames of fire and its wheels of 
burning fire. A swift stream of fire issued forth 
from before Him. A million of angels ministered 
to Him and a thousand million stood before Him. 
The Judge is seated and the books were opened. I 
beheld one like the Son of man advance towards the 
Ancient of days ; and they presented them before 
Him. And they gave Him honor, power, and 
kingdom, and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall 
serve Him. His power is an everlasting power 
which shall not be taken away from Him, and His 
Kingdom shall not be destroyed. My spirit trem- 
bled. I, Daniel, was affrighted at these things.'' 
And who shall not be terrified? O my God, be- 
hold me at Thy feet, seized with terror at the re- 
membrance of Thy judgments! Have pity on me 
before the day of Thy vengeance arrives, for on 
that day there shall be no longer pity or pardon. 

Third Point, — Let us consider the rigor with 
which Jesus shall deal towards impenitent sinners 
on the day of His justice. He will command His 
angels to separate the wicked from the elect, as if 
they were unclean animals. He will place before 
their eyes the iniquities which have stained their 
miserable lives; and when He shall have con- 
founded them before the eyes of the whole world, 
He will turn on them the eyes of His majesty. 
But who could endure the weight of His avenging 
looks? How true it is to say that sinners shall im- 
plore the mountains to crush them and death to 
annihilate them! But no, this will not happen; 



The Tzuo Advents, 13 

they must endure the agony of His terrible gaze, 
they must live to render by their sufferings eternal 
homage to that justice which they have so shame- 
fully outraged. 

To understand to what extent sinners are hide- 
ous in the eyes of God, it will suffice to meditate 
on the first word He will address them. It is a 
word of indignation and disgust: "Depart from 
Me," and His voice, like to thunder-sound, shall re- 
sound to the extremities of the earth. At this anath- 
ema hell rejoices at the victims which are given 
and the demons rush forth to receive their prey. 
A saint thought he heard a voice issue from the 
throne of God to plead the cause of the sinner, and 
the following dialogue ensued: "Lord, dost Thou 
not recognize the work of Thy hands, and Thy 
privileged creature? O my God, suspend Thy sen- 
tence and Thy vengeance. These whom Thou re- 
jectest are the very ones for whom Thou didst die; 
they are Thy children, the heirs to Thy Kingdom.*' 
But He answers: "I do not know them! They 
have blasphemed My name, they have despised 
My love, they are ingrates. They have employed 
My very gifts against Me, and now I have cursed 
them. Depart from Me forever.'' " But, O my God, 
behold their tears, hear their lamentations. They 
form a large part of Thy children ! Do not allow 
them to perish forever." But He answers: " Have 
they not outraged Me? Indeed they weep, but it 
is with rage, not in love. How often have I spoken 
to their hearts, how often have I tried to lead them 



14 First Sunday of Advent, 

back to Me, and they have closed their ears to My 
voice. Now I curse them, let them go far from 
My presence. Depart, ye cursed!*' 

O my God, I am not astonished, if the remem- 
brance of Thy judgments has converted so many 
sinners, peopled the deserts with holy anchorites, 
and wrung tears from so many holy penitents. Is 
it possible to weep too bitterly for the faults which 
must be expiated in hell, unless they are expiated 
here on earth? My God, what shall be my misfor- 
tune, if, after having reflected on the terrors and 
the regrets which will follow Thy second coming, 
I shall not profit by the means of salvation which 
the first coming affords me ! Do not permit it, O 
my God, and grant that I may never abuse Thy 
love and Thy mercy. 



SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 

JESUS AN OBJECT OF SCANDAL. 

T^HE disciples of St. John came to ask of Jesus if 
He were the Messias so long promised to the 
. . . world. He answered them by working mir- 
acles, and added : " Blessed is he who shall not be 
scandalized in Me." What a sorrow it is to think 
that the amiable Son of God could be an object of 
scandal for any one ! We will now consider how 
frequent is this scandal and how criminal it is. 

First Point. — It is indeed strange that Jesus and 
His religion should be an object of scandal and 
contradiction among men ; yet such was the pre- 
diction of the holy old man, Simeon : " Behold this 
Child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of 
many, and for a sign which shall be contradicted.'* 
Never has a prediction been verified with more 
constant precision. Jesus was an object of scandal 
for the Pharisees by the splendor of His virtues. 
These haughty hypocrites could not endure Him 
whose wisdom compelled them to blush. They 
wished Him to be considered as a Samaritan, a 
sinner, one possessed by the demon, and they put 
Him to death. His poverty and humiliations were 
a scandal to the Jewish people. These worldly 
people imagined the Messias to be a conquering 



1 6 Second Sunday of Advent, . 

king, who should reduce all other nations under 
His empire, and they refused to recognize the 
Messias in the humble Jesus. The Gentiles were 
scandalized at the Cross, which they regarded as a 
folly. He had been an object of scandal for the 
pagan emperors, who persecuted Him for three 
' hundred years, in the person of His disciples. 

The bloody persecutions ceased, but the scan- 
dal still remains. Even in His Church Jesus is 
an object of contradiction. The incredulous are 
scandalized at the mysteries which their proud 
reason rejects, because they cannot comprehend 
His mysteries. The libertine is scandalized at the 
severity of His Christian morality, and which he 
pretends is above and beyond the strength of men. 
The heretics are scandalized at the undeniable au- 
thority of His Church, and raise against her the 
standard of revolt. And lax Christians, in still 
greater numbers, are scandalized at the abasement 
of His mercies ; while slaves of a miserable human 
respect blush at His name and the duties which 
that name imposes. 

Such ingratitude is indeed revolting ; but are you 
wholly exempt from it? Is it true that Jesus is 
not for you an object of scandal? You love riches 
and Jesus despised them ; you seek after pleasures, 
and Jesus condemned them ; you are fond of the 
world, Jesus rejected the world. How, then, can 
you say that you love Jesus, when you love noth- 
ing which He has commanded, but, on the contrary, 
love precisely what He has forbidden? In thus 



Jesiis an Object of Scandal. 1 7 

living, you cannot deny that Jesus is for you an 
object of contradiction. While you do not despise 
His name, His doctrine and His love are a scandal 
for you! Yes, Jesus is a scandal for you, O vindic- 
tive man ! because He has pardoned injuries ; Jesus 
is a scandal for you, vain young woman, because He 
practised humility; Jesus is a scandal for you, 
young man, because He has loved purity ; and for 
you, who do not know how to obey or mortify your- 
selves, Jesus is also a scandal, because He has prac- 
tised obedience even to the death of the Cross. 

O my Jesus, inspire in my heart a true love for 
Thee, that henceforth nothing shall be a scandal 
to me, in Thy doctrine. Thy life, or Thy humilia- 
tions. I shall strive to become like Thee by loving 
what Thou loved and by despising that which 
Thou despised, and by practising the virtues of 
which Thou hast given an example. 

Second Point. — To be vScandalized at Jesus is a 
crime. What greater outrage can there be against 
God, than to be scandalized at His benefits, and to 
seek in His infinite goodness some reason for re- 
volt against Him? In fact, what is it, says Bour- 
daloue, that scandalizes and disheartens us in the 
religion we profess? Precisely that in which God 
manifests His love for us. All those mysteries 
which shock our delicacy — those mysteries of a God 
made man, a God humiliated, a God persecuted, a 
God dying — are these anything else than the fulfil- 
ment of that grand word spoken to us by God Him- 
self — ''God has so loved the world'*? 



1 8 Second Sunday of Advent. 

Pope St. Gregory signalizes and deplores this 
criminal conduct, when he exclaims : '' Man has 
taken as an object of scandal against his God the 
very things which should inviolably attach him to 
his God." In fact, it is evident, if anything were 
capable of uniting us closely to God, inspiring us 
with zeal for Him, and making us ready to sacri- 
fice everything for His honor, it is certainly the 
thought that God has died for us and was anni- 
hilated for us. This thought has produced marvel- 
lous fruits in the saints — prodigies of virtue, heroic 
conversions, renunciation of the world, and disposi- 
tions generous enough for martyrdom. And what 
has done all that? The sight of the God-Man, and 
of a God sacrificed for the salvation of men. This 
it is which has gained their hearts and filled them 
with intensest love. It is also that which has been 
the occasion of scandal for certain Christians and 
induced them to lead an idle, impure, and disorderly 
life. At the sight of this disorder, TertuUian in- 
dignantly exclaims: ''Be scandalized, if you will, 
at everything, but at least spare the person of your 
Saviour; spare His cross, since it is the source of 
your life ; spare it, since it is the hope of the whole 
world.'' If it were the angels who were offended 
at it, or were scandalized, this would be in a meas- 
ure tolerable, since Jesus has not suffered for 
them. But since it is for you that the Saviour has 
come, and for you He has wished to die, the 
scandal should recoil on you and upon all crea- 
tures." 



Jesus an Object of Scandal, 19 

Learn, therefore, at the foot of your Saviour's 
cross, the sentiments with which the memories of 
His mercies should inspire you. See, in His vol- 
untary abasement, not a motive for blushing, but a 
reason for loving Him. It is not necessary to be a 
Christian to reason in this way, but it is necessary 
thus to think to be a Christian. The more you 
enter into these sentiments, the more you will 
participate in the grace and spirit of Christianity; 
and in proportion as these sentiments shall grow 
less in you, so too will the spirit of Christianity 
decrease in you. Let the worldlings run after the 
world and its vanities, but as for you, strive to cling 
closely to the person of your lovable Redeemer. 
There is no salvation except through Him; love 
His teaching, love His example, and love His re- 
ligion, and then you will not make a subject of 
scandal that which is the principle of your salva- 
tion and the foundation of your perfection. 

O my Saviour, do not permit that I should ever 
be scandalized at what Thou hast done for me and 
the divine teachings Thou hast given me. Impress 
on my heart such a high esteem for Thy humilia- 
tions and sufferings, that Thy cross may be at once 
my strength, my guide, and my glory. 



THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST A MODEL OF HUMILITY. 

'T^HE Jews had sent some messengers to ask of 
St. John the Baptist if he were the Messias, 
... or, at least, if he were Elias, or a prophet. 
He replied : " No ! I am the voice of one crying 
in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord." 
By these simple and modest words, St. John gives 
us an admirable lesson in humility, and his humil- 
ity is made manifest by three principal traits : he 
refuses all kinds of honor, he speaks of himself in 
the most modest terms, and he eulogizes Him who 
is considered his rival. 

First Point, — St. John refuses all honors. At 
once he refuses those honors to which he has no 
right. The object of the Jews, in addressing St. 
John the question, '' Who art thou?" was to compel 
him to declare if he was, or was not, the Messias. 
The mere expression of such a doubt filled the 
precursor with confusion. He was sorrowfully 
surprised at the thought that amy one should con- 
found him with the Master. He therefore rejects 
this supposition with all the strength of an indignant 
soul, and boldly and emphatically declares that he 
is not the Messias — " And he confessed and did not 
deny, and confessed, I am not the Christ." But 



St. Joint the Baptist a Model of Humility, 21 

they still urge him: ''Who, then, art thou? art 
thou Elias? and he said to them, I am not. Art 
thou a prophet? He answered. No/' The hu- 
mility of St. John had here to undergo a severe 
trial. In fact the Jews were disposed, if he had 
wished it, to recognize him as their king, their 
liberator, and even as the Messias. He had but to 
say a single word, and the whole synagogue would 
have come to do him homage ; but St. John is too 
humble to accept a title and honors which he does 
not merit, and hence he declares without hesitation 
that he is not the Christ. 

His humility goes farther ; he refuses even the 
honors to which he has a just right. . Without 
being the Christ, St. John the Baptist was great 
enough to be extolled and praised; without any 
usurpation he could claim at least the titles which 
Jesus had given him on several occasions. If he 
were not really Elias, he was a figure of him. He 
represented him. and he exercised, in the first com- 
ing of the Son of God, the ministry which Elias 
shall exercise at His second coming. He leads the 
same life as Elias led, he manifests the same 
virtues, the same zeal, the same mortifications, and 
the same fearlessness before the powers of the earth. 

True, he was not Elias in reality, but he was 
Elias in spirit and in virtue. With the same truth, 
he could accept or refuse the title of prophet. He 
could refuse it, since the ministr}^ of the prophets 
consisted in announcing, from afar, the coming of 
the promised Messias. His mission was to show 



22 Third Sunday of Advent. 

that the Messias had come to the Judeans. This, 
however, was not to prophesy, but only to announce 
what already existed. He could also accept the 
title of prophet; the Messias whom he preached 
existed in truth, but He had not yet manifested 
Himself. His mission hitherto remained in the 
class of future things, so that he was really predict- 
ing and prophesying what he announced. So that, 
between the two, St. John, without hesitation, 
takes the part which is most favorable to his pro- 
found humility. But Jesus bestows on him, with 
superabundance, the glory of which he had deprived 
himself; He declared that not only was St. John the 
Baptist a prophet, but that he was more than a 
prophet, thus realizing what He had so often 
preached, i,e,, that ''he who humbles himself shall 
be exalted." 

Second Point. — St. John speaks of himself in the 
most modest terms. The Jews, dissatisfied by the 
response which St. John had given, said to him: 
*' Who art thou, what sayest thou of thyself?" He 
answered : '' I am the voice of one crying in the 
wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord. I 
indeed baptize in w^ater, but there is One in your 
midst whom you do not know, whose shoes I am 
not worthy to loose." The holy precursor ab- 
stained as much as possible from declaring whom 
he was, and confined himself strictly to the questions 
which were proposed to him. He was content to 
modestly, but positively, avow what he was not. 
But a precise question puts him to the necessity of 



St, John the Baptist a Model of Htimility, 23 

an explanation and to say exactly who he is. He 
speaks of himself, but it is because he is constrained 
to do so. It is an avowal which is forced from his 
modesty, and by declaring the truth he shall still 
more conciliate this duty with his sentiments of 
humility. He shall say only what is necessary to 
make known his mission. The interests of his 
Master demand it, but he shall say it in the most 
simple terms, and far from all pretension and praise 
for himself: ''I am the voice of one crying in the 
wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord.'* It was 
simply impossible for him to speak of himself in a 
more modest manner. A voice is only a mere 
sound, entirely without substance. St. John, there- 
fore, declares that he is absolutely nothing by 
himself. 

For a moment put yourself in the place of St. ' 
John the Baptist. Think that some one comes with 
authority to demand who you are, what have you to 
say of yourself? Candidly, what response should 
you make? Would you, as the holy precursor, be 
principally occupied in preventing an opinion, too 
advantageous, which might be formed of you? 
Would you acknowledge with the same frankness 
what was wanting in you? And, if obliged to 
speak of what was advantageous to you, would you 
do so as simply and as modestly as St. John did? 

Third Point, — While St. John speaks of himself 
and of all that concerns him with so much modesty 
and reserve, he enlarges with pleasure on the gran- 
deur of Jesus, and finds also in praising Him the 



24 Third Sunday of Advent, 

means of humbling himself. This is the conduct of 
one who possesses a truly humble heart. As much 
as he tries to conceal in secret the gifts which he has 
received from God, just so much does he love to 
publish the gifts with which others are adorned. 
His modesty suffers from the eulogies he receives, 
while his charity rejoices at those which he gives. 
Are these your sentiments? Do you love to be- 
stow praise rather than to receive it? Are you 
eager to extol the good qualities of your neighbor, 
and to be forgetful of his defects? How rare are 
dispositions like these, and yet how suitable they 
are in a Christian soul? 

O my God, how far I am from having the senti- 
ments of humility which Thy holy precursor had ! 
I am as proud as he was humble. Do not permit, 
Lord, that I should ever forget the nothingness 
from which Thou hast drawn me; and if I am 
obliged to extol the good which I possess, let it be 
only to make known the greatness of Thy power 
and the magnificence of Thy gifts. 



FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 

THE DISPOSITIONS FOR THE FEAST OF CHRISTMAS. 

\A/HEN a king wishes to go through his king- 
dom and visit his people, an armed herald 
.... precedes him and announces his arrival. 
Everything which might inconvenience his passage 
is removed; triumphal arches are erected in his 
honor, and flowers are strewn on the way which he 
shall pass. Well, the King Jesus is coming to visit 
us; already His herald has preceded Him, inviting 
you to do Him honor. St. John the Baptist asks of 
you, in the name of his Master, not indeed to cast 
flowers on His way or to erect triumphal arches, 
but he does require that you should fill the void 
which is in your heart and adorn it with virtues. 
" Every valley shall be filled. " He indicates the vir- 
tues you must acquire ; but there are two especiall}^ 
viz., humility, which shall bring down your pride, 
and a spirit of faith, which shall smooth your path- 
way. " Every mountain and hill shall be brought 
low, and the crooked ways shall be made straight." 
First Point, — The first disposition which the pre- 
cursor demands in the name of his Master is 
humility. '' Every mountain and every hill shall 
be brought low." These two expressions seem to 
indicate two kinds of pride. The larger kind in- 



26 Fourth Sunday of Advent. 

creases beyond measure, and seems to lift us up as 
a high mountain, the weight of which crushes every- 
thing else that is near it. This is the first pride of 
which we must divest ourselves. There is another, 
more delicate and hidden, represented by the hills, 
and seems rather to be self-complacency, that raises 
us above others. This pride, although less crim- 
inal, no less hinders the coming of the Saviour. If 
Jesus shall approach you, you must begin by hum- 
bling yourself in your own estimation. 

Pride, in all its shades, is the sworn enemy of the 
Saviour; it has occasioned the loss of the first man, 
and it is still the cause of all the disorders which 
disturb the world. Pride of independence is the 
source of revolts against superiors ; pride of ambi- 
tion is the source of the catastrophes which deso- 
late society ; pride of reason is the principle of in- 
credulity which refuses the yoke of faith ; pride of 
science is the cause of schisms which rend the 
bosom of the Church ; pride of human respect 
makes us blush for our faith and abandon our Chris- 
tian duties; pride of vanity begets love of the 
world, taste for dress, luxury, the ruin of families, 
and the loss of innocence. This must be sufficient 
to tell you the horror which pride inspires in Him 
who has come to destroy sin, which is, after all, the 
pride of our first father. 

Pride explains the humiliations of the crib, the 
thirty years of Jesus' life in the house of a poor ar- 
tisan, the severity of a moral all abnegation and 
humility, the opprobrium and the humiliations of 



The Dispositions for the Feast of Christmas. 27 

the cross; to oppose it not only are lessons and 
precepts necessary, but the force of example is re- 
quired to remove every excuse and to confound 
forever all human vanity. Jesus might have been 
born in the palace of a king and in the midst of 
opulence. ''If He had wished it," says Bossuet, 
"what golden coronet could have encircled His 
head, and what royal purple could cover His 
shoulders!'' But He has not wished it. He has 
selected the other extremity, just precisely to teach 
us, by His example, loving humility. May you 
comprehend these great and exalted lessons, and, 
in the school of the divine Master, may you learn 
the practice of humility. 

Second Point,— 1^\i^ crooked ways shall be made 
straight. You find indicated here, under these 
symbolic expressions, one of those virtues which the 
world hardly suspects, but which the eye of God 
contemplates with pleasure ; it is purity of intention 
or a spirit of faith. The man and the Christian, in 
their reflective acts, have always a motive which 
determines them. Man acts through self-love, 
through self-complacency, goodness of heart, or 
natural inclination ; and these acts are w^holly 
natural, without merit before God, because God re- 
wards only what is done for Him. The Christian, 
on the contrary, finds in his faith the motives of 
his conduct. He acts for God. Having Him for the 
object, he wishes to please or glorify Him, and 
hence his acts are supernatural in virtue of this 
principle, that an action always participates in the 



28 Fourth Sunday of Advent. 

nature of the motive which determines it ; and his 
acts are meritorious before God, since they are per- 
formed for Him. 

When God depicts the just man, He defines him 
"a man who lives by faith." Jesus, the Just One 
by excellence, declares, that " His life is to do the 
will of His Father.'' This is also the life of a 
Christian who knows how to be faithful to his 
vocation ; it is his glory, it is his true greatness. 
In fact, true exaltation presupposes continual ab- 
negation, and to impose silence on the passions; to 
put aside all interest or self-love, all inclinations and 
affections, and to seek in the very bosom of God 
the reason of our acts, of our judgments, and our 
affections. If this is not true greatness, then where 
shall it be found ? 

And precisely because this spirit of faith sup- 
poses higher exaltation, it is most rare among men. 
Not to speak of so many good, though worldly, 
men who multiply their good works through purely 
natural motives, how many are there, otherwise 
pious and regular, who are wanting in their con- 
duct and even in their piety this right intention 
which seeks only God and His good pleasure? 
They are kind and good, but rather by their natural 
goodness of heart than by their charity ; they are 
generous to certain persons, and yet without pity 
for others. They pray, it is true, but only to find 
consolation ; they abridge or prolong their conver- 
sation with God, as they experience in it fervor or 
dryness ; they are interested friends, to whom Jesus 



The Dispositions for the Feast of Christmas. 29 

could well say, as to the multitude which followed 
Him: ''It is not for My sake that you follow Me, 
but in the hope that I shall again multiply the 
bread for you." It is true they confess and com- 
municate, but it is through habit, or to do as others 
do, or to please a master or a friend; in a word, 
they act for others, rather than for God. These 
are the winding and the crooked ways which the 
holy precursor invites us to make straight. 

And so hitherto, perhaps, you have been chari- 
table through caprice, goodness of heart, or through 
ostentation. Now be charitable to please God, 
who is charity itself, and to please Jesus, who is in 
the person of each one who suffers. Hitherto you 
have brought, perhaps, to the exercise of your zeal 
dispositions which are wholly human ; good and 
anxious for some, but stormy and intolerant for 
others; you are ardent when successful, but dis- 
couraged when your efforts are sterile. Now seek 
the will of God, rather than success and the inter- 
ests of self-love. Then you shall never be cast 
down. Hitherto you have sought in prayer, in 
confession, and in communion your consolations 
and your joys; and hence followed sadness, tears, 
and perhaps resistance, when your hopes were not 
realized. Rectify these views, which are wholly 
natural. Go to God with simplicity of heart, which 
always obeys when commanded, which submits 
when forbidden, and finds peace only in holy obe- 
dience; then you shall make straight the paths 
which shall conduct you to God. 



30 FoitrtJi Sunday of Advent. 

Adorable Jesus, Thou didst come to this world 
only to enter my heart. Deign to enter there and 
take possession of it, and make it worthy to receive 
Thee. Enlighten me on everything which may 
render me displeasing in Thine eyes. Or rather, 
O good Jesus! create in me a new heart; fill up 
what is void, by adorning it with virtue; humble 
my pride, correct my perverse inclinations, that all 
the ways may be opened to Thee to come and reign 
in my heart and possess it forever. 



CHRISTMAS DAY. 

THE STABLE OF BETHLEHEM. 

'T^HE birth of Jesus in the crib of Bethlehem 
presents for our consideration a prodigy of hu- 
, . . mility and a prodigy of goodness. 

First Point, — The crib in Bethlehem is a wonder 
of humility. Pride has ever been the source of the 
greatest misfortunes. Adam wishes to become like 
to God, and he is forthwith expelled from the 
garden of delights. The pride of Cain is aroused 
at the preference which God manifests for the sacri- 
fices of Abel, and Cain becomes the murderer of his 
brother. The children of Noe construct a tower, 
which, they say, shall be a lasting monument to 
their greatness, and this act of pride is punished by 
the confusion of tongues. Even now, pride begets 
dissensions, hatred, and wars which desolate em- 
pires, and schisms which rend the Church. Since 
pride is the greatest of all the vices, it was neces- 
sary to apply a remedy to it at once, and w^hat more 
efficacious remedy can there be than the humility 
of a God? The Divine Word offers Himself for our 
redemption by saying to God His Father : *' Holo- 
causts for sin are no longer pleasing to Thee. Be- 
hold Me, Lord, Thy eternal Son, united to a mortal 
body; behold Me, the heir of David, poor, forsa- 



32 Christmas Day, 

ken, and reduced to the horrors of misery. For a 
throne, I have a manger; for a palace, I have a 
stable ; for a royal mantle, I have swaddling-clothes, 
and for courtiers I have some poor shepherds.** 
What humility ! Can you ever comprehend all its 
greatness? Know it well, nothing would have been 
easier for this Child than to have been born in a 
superb palace, of a celebrated or renowned prin- 
cess, and in the midst of a court eager to serve 
Him. He could do all this, since the earth, with all 
that it contains, belongs to Him. "All things 
under heaven are mine.*' But has not this example 
flattered our vices instead of extirpating them ? Is 
it not an excuse for our pride, instead of a remedy? 
Men love riches, as they are the source of honors 
which are often as vain and fleeting as their origin ; 
but the Saviour, by His birth in a stable, has taught 
men to love poverty. Men attach much importance 
to an illustrious origin ; but Jesus is born of a 
daughter of David and the world ignores Him ; 
and this royal daughter, who is a spectacle for 
angels, is unable to find in Bethlehem a friendly 
hand that shall assist her in her poverty. Men are 
also proud of their studies and their science ; they 
blush to be found in contact with people witliout 
education or instruction ; but the God of the manger 
calls about Him simple and ignorant shepherds. 
Of what then shall men henceforth be proud? 
How can a proud man dare to look at the crib ? He 
who possesses every perfection consents to be reck- 
oned as nothing. He who fills all places by His 



The Stable of Bethlehem, 33 

immensity is compelled to seek an asylum in a 
stable. He before whom all men are as small in- 
sects becomes like to them to save them. Can 
there be an abnegation like to this? O my humble 
Master! who shall not be instructed by this mys- 
tery, when he sees Thee treated as the meanest of 
men, rejected by every one, relegated to a poor 
dwelling, and surrounded by vile animals? Why 
dost Thou hide Thyself under a veil so unworthy 
of Thy greatness? Thy love answers: it is to con- 
found the pride of men. O man, you are but the 
dust of the earth, still you dream only of grandeur 
and frivolity, while your God conceals Himself 
under the form of a slave. You are but a play- 
thing of vanity, and constantly sigh for new orna- 
ments; while your God is naked and so poor that 
His mother can scarcely find wherewith to cover 
His sacred body. If, after this wonder of humility, 
you still seek to exalt yourself, it would be indeed 
a wonder, and it would be a prodigy of pride. 

Second Point, — The crib is a prodigy of goodness. 
Let us suppose that the only son of the greatest 
king of the earth, unmindful of his rank, his birth, 
and all the pleasures of the court of which he is 
the brightest ornament, should come in the midst 
of us and share the labors of the most unfortunate ; 
and let us suppose that, wishing to solace them as 
far as he can, he should ask of his father to charge 
him with the obligations of all, and to fulfil these 
obligations he should expose himself to the rigors 
of the seasons and the fury of a thousand enemies, 
3 



34 Christmas Day, 

would he not be a monster, worthy of our anath- 
emas, who should not love such a generous 
prince? And who is this Son of the great King? 
He is the Word of God, eternal, equal to His Father 
in everything, a Father who is truly worthy of the 
name, and who places in His Son all His delights. 
The human race, lost by its own crimes, was about 
to perish. The hand of the Most High was pre- 
pared to hurl His thunders against men, but His 
Son, this merciful Son, restrained Him, and His 
anger is changed to tenderness. But a sacrifice is 
necessary. Well, He shall be the Victim. The 
crib in Bethlehem is the altar on which He is of- 
fered. O infant God, how dear Thou art to me! 
The tears Thou didst shed are for me; the sorrows 
Thy delicate members experience have been occa- 
sioned by me, and still Thy charity makes all these 
sufferings light and tolerable. 

To understand this prodigy of goodness well, we 
should meditate on the sorrowful circumstances 
which accompany the entrance of Jesus into the 
world. He is born in the*middle of a winter night, 
— the cold seizes His weak body, — His mother looks 
about for garments to cover Him, and finds only 
some poor clothes which scarcely serve their pur- 
pose. He is born to be the Saviour of men, and 
men despise Him and reject Him from their 
society as the last of all men. Hardly is He born 
than He at once begins to exercise the functions of 
a Saviour ; His tears are falling in the manger. Do 
not suppose that the tears of the Infant Jesus come 



The Stable of Bethlehem. 35 

only from a natural cause, as the tears of other 
children. No; His soul, reasonable at all times, 
sees all the crimes of men. He weeps for men, 
and His tears are the tears of penance. And you 
are the cause of these tears, you unthinking Chris- 
tians, who, by refusing to receive Him in the sacra- 
ment of His love, close the door of your heart 
against Him, as on the day of His birth the rich 
closed the doors of their houses against Him. You 
are the object of those tears, worldly young men, 
who are plunged in pleasures while He endures for 
you the greatest sufferings. You, slaves of vanity, 
you are the objects of those tears, you who seek the 
esteem and praise of men while He is born in 
misery and lives in opprobrium for love of you. 

O my divine and amiable Master, it is indeed a 
great prodigy that Thou shouldst come to me and 
testify so much love for me; but it is a prodigy 
greater still that I should acknowledge Thy love so 
little. After all that Thou hast suffered for me, 
should I find it too hard to suffer something for 
Thee? Good Jesus, unveil to my heart the mystery 
of the crib at Bethlehem, make me understand well 
its divine teachings, that, through love for Thee, I 
may know how to suffer and be humble, since Thou 
hast suffered and wast humiliated through love for 
me. 



SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. 

PROPHECY OF SIMEON CONCERNING JESUS AND 

MARY. 

"T^HE holy old man Simeon, having blessed Jesus, 
^ said to Mary : '' This Child is set for the fall 
. . . and the resurrection of many in Israel, and 
a sword of sorrow shall pierce thy heart." Simeon 
made these two prophecies, one concerning Jesus 
and the other concerning Mary. We should re- 
flect on both, since they are calculated to suggest 
useful reflections. 

Firsl Point, — The prophecy which relates to Jesus. 
When Simeon declared that Jesus should be the 
ruin of many, we must not understand that He shall 
be the author of their ruin, or that He shall lead 
men to it. This would be simply impious. The 
Sacred Scriptures, which this divine Child has in- 
spired, are full of His love for all men, His desire 
to see them merit it, and to obtain their salvation. 
Simeon wishes to announce that Jesus shall be- 
come, not the cause, but the occasion of loss to very 
many. Jesus shall be what Isaias announced He 
should be, and what St. Paul declares He has been, 
viz., "The stone on which they shall fall, and on 
which many of the children of Israel shall be in- 
jured.'* You shall find those who shall accuse 



Prophecy of Simeon, 37 

Him because of their fall on that stone, on which 
their feet have stumbled. Far from Jesus being 
the cause of our loss, the cause is traceable to our- 
selves, because we refuse to hear Him, or to obey 
Him, or to follow Him. It is in a very different 
sense that holy Simeon said to Mary that Jesus 
shall be the resurrection of many. In fact. He is 
not only the occasion of our salvation, as He is of 
our loss, but He is the true cause of it ; He is the 
general cause of salvation for all men by the bene- 
fit of redemption ; and He is the particular cause of 
salvation for the just, because it is He who, by His 
grace, has wrought their justification. By His pas- 
sion and death He has opened for us the gates of 
heaven; He has shown us the way to heaven by 
His law; by His example He guides us there, and 
by His strength sustains us in the journey of life. 
Our salvation, therefore, comes from Him, while 
our loss comes from ourselves. If you have been 
stained by sin, you can blame only yourselves for 
your faults, while, if you have persevered in justice, 
you must be grateful to Him for your innocence. 
And thus, among the children of Israel, Jesus has 
been the resurrection of one part and the ruin of 
the other: some He has saved, but others are lost 
through their own fault. 

What He has been for the age in which He lived 
and for the nation which possessed Him, He has 
not ceased to be for all ages and for the whole hu- 
man race. He has been the resurrection of those 
who hear His voice, who believe His word, who 



38 Sunday after Christmas, 

conform to His law, and who are attached to Him; 
but He is the ruin of those who disdain to hear 
Him who refuse to believe Him, who resist His 
instructions and who disobey His precepts. 

The manner in which this oracle of Simeon is ac- 
complished must suggest to us a very sorrowful re- 
flection. When we consider the number of the Jews 
for whom Jesus was the ruin, and the number for 
whom He was the resurrection, what a vast dis- 
parity there exists ! On the one hand we behold a 
handful of disciples, on the other a multitude of 
enemies. While almost all the citizens loudly de- 
manded that He should be crucified, what a small 
number of faithful followers retired apart with 
Him, trembling for themselves and weeping for 
the Saviour ! The number was small that preserved 
for Him a personal attachment. Now what was 
true in His time has been always true ; it is true 
to-day. The unfortunate disproportion among 
those for whom Jesus is the resurrection, and those 
for whom He is the ruin, has continued from gen- 
eration to generation, even until now. This has 
been an object of profound sorrow for the pious 
souls who are members of Christ*s Church, and 
woe to us if we are insensible to it ! This culpable 
indifference should make us tremble, lest we should 
be numbered among those unfortunates who could 
make Jesus the cause of their salvation, but in- 
stead make Him the occasion of their reprobation. 

Second Point, — Holy Simeon announced to Mary 
that a sword of sorrow should pierce her heart. 



Prophecy of Simeon, 39 

This prophecy of the holy old Simeon has been ful- 
filled in Mary, and with a cruel precision. It is the 
destiny of mortals that no one can exempt himself 
from the law which condemns all to suffer. Even 
she who by special privilege was exempted from 
the stain of Adam has been obliged to submit to 
this severe condition of suffering. Although she 
had been declared blessed, and that she should see, 
in the future, all generations publish her honor, still 
her heart was a prey to the most bitter affliction. 
Her august character of Mother of God, which pro- 
claimed her the happiest of women, however, ren- 
dered her the most afflicted of mothers. For other 
mothers it is a matter of supremest joy to possess a 
son, but for Mary it was a subject of constant dis- 
tress and sadness, because she knew for what fright- 
ful destinies she had given birth to her Son. St. 
John, in the Apocalypse, records that he saw Jesus 
under the figure of a lamb immolated. The sor- 
rowful Mother of Jesus had this lamentable spec- 
tacle before her eyes during her whole life. The 
sweetness of those caresses which she lavished on 
her Son, the tenderness of her cares with which 
she surrounded Him, were constantly empoisoned 
by this horrible image. The very circumstances 
best calculated to excite her joy recalled the sorrows 
which awaited her. When she rejoiced to have 
found Him in the Temple, after an absence of 
three days, the thought that she should one day 
lose Him in a more sorrowful manner came quickly 
to her mind. If she rejoiced at having snatched 



40 Sunday after Christmas, 

Him from the fury of Herod, at once she thought 
that it was only for a death still more cruel she had 
preserved Him. She rejoiced, it is true, to see 
Him walking through the cities and villages, work- 
ing miracles, strewing blessings at every footstep, 
surrounded by multitudes full of enthusiasm and 
gratitude ; but she saw that same multitude turn 
against Him with fury, demand His death with loud 
cries, hasten His punishment, and to insult and 
raillery add their cruelty. Thus, from the day 
when the fatal destiny of her Son was revealed to 
her, the life of Mary was only one long and con- 
tinual agony. 

If the heart of Mary was so violently disturbed 
by the sufferings of her Son, and when she could 
only foresee them, what must have been her cruel 
agony when she saw His sufferings realized before 
her eyes? The desolate Agar, wandering in the 
desert of Bersabee, was crushed by affliction at 
seeing the state to which her son Ismael had been 
reduced. This is the ordinary effect of sorrow, it 
is the natural promptings of a mother's love; but 
with the Mother of God everything is supernatural. 
A love like hers demands the greatest sacrifice. 
She never left this Son, so dear to her, and she 
shall not abandon Him until His last sigh on the 
cross. The Virgin of Nazareth walks to the moun- 
tain on which her Son is to be immolated. She 
walks, followed by some other daughters of Sion, 
weeping with her for their well-beloved Jesus, and 
while He shall there consummate the holocaust of 



Prophecy of Simeon. 41 

His life they shall consummate holocausts of their 
hearts. There nothing is lost for her which can 
bring her the deepest affliction ; she hears all, sees 
all — all the cruelties of the executioners and the tor- 
ments of her Son she feels in her own heart. More- 
over, although the fury of the Jews had spared her 
life, the Fathers of the Church do not hesitate to 
attribute to Mary the glory of martyrdom ; and this 
martyrdom, although not stained by blood, is not 
the less heroic. The other martyrs suffered with 
Jesus reigning in heaven ; Mary suffered with Jesus 
while He suffered on the cross ; the prospect of His 
glory sustained their constancy, but the sight of His 
humiliations disconcerted the Mother. The love of 
God was for them a solace, but for Mary it was an 
increase of sorrow. 

O Mary, my Mother, engrave deeply in my heart 
the memory of thy sorrows, that I may better 
comprehend how much thou hast paid for the sad 
privilege of having me for thy child. And Thou, 
amiable Jesus, give me the grace to follow Thee as 
my Guide, to imitate Thee as my Model, and to 
obey Thee as my King, that Thou mayst be for me, 
not the occasion of my ruin, but the cause of my 
resurrection and salvation. Amen. 



FEAST OF THE CIRCUMCISION. 

THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS. 

/^F all the names which, have been given to the 
children of men, the most august and the most 
. . . lovable is the name of Jesus. It contains in 
itself all that the prophets announced as greatest, all 
that the patriarchs have dreamed of as most gracious ; 
it recalls at once what is most amiable in virtue, 
what is most tender in love, and what is most 
august in religion. Besides, it is an angel that has 
brought this name from heaven to earth; and St. 
Bernard says that the name of Jesus is at the same 
time a light, a nourishment, and a remedy. 

First Point, — The name of Jesus is a light. It 
enlightens the mind of the priest when preaching 
to the people. It is by the name of Jesus that the 
universe has been converted ; at this divine name 
the darkness of idolatry gave place to the light of 
the Gospel. St. Peter, at his first preaching, con- 
verted three thousand persons by the power of 
Jesus' name. St. Paul, on his way to Damascus, 
experienced its happy effects; he was struck, as if 
by a thunderbolt, while he was hastening to put the 
Christians to death. He heard a voice which said 
to him : *' Why do you persecute Me?'' " And who 
are you?'' he answered. The voice replied : ^' I am 



The Holy Name of Jesus, 43 

Jesus." At the sound of this name an unknown 
light shone before his eyes, and he understood the 
meaning of it all. ''Lord," says the persecutor, 
now become a vessel of election, '' what wilt Thou 
have me to do? Speak, for I am ready." 

St. Paul, convinced by his own experience of the 
power of this holy name, made it his support in his 
apostolic journeys, and without other arms than this 
divine name he converted the world. Rome, 
Athens, and Corinth experienced, each in turn, the 
power of his word. He confounded the learned, 
astonished the Areopagus, and caused the procon- 
sul to tremble in his tribunal ; but it was not by his 
credit nor by his eloquence that he triumphed ; he 
admitted that he was not skilful in the art of 
speaking well, but he knew Jesus crucified, and it 
was to this sacred name he owed all his success. 

The effects of the name of Jesus are still the 
same. What light it sheds on the soul ! Is it neces- 
sary to detach the hearts of the rich from their earth- 
ly goods? Reason fails against cupidity, but let 
the name of Jesus be pronounced and it shall recall 
Him who became poor through love, and soon love 
shall lead to a contempt for riches. Is it necessary to 
instil resignation in the heart of the poor man ? The 
name of Jesus shall remind him of the poor Infant 
in the manger, and will make his poverty precious. 
Do you strive to stifle vengeance in the depth of 
some outraged heart by reasoning? Then all your 
efforts shall be in vain ; but let the name of Jesus 
be mentioned, and the vindictive one shall remem- 



44 Feast of the Circumcision. 

ber the amiable Victim, who, although outraged 
and insulted, not only pardoned His executioners 
but excused them. His heart is open to mercy. 
St. John Gualbert had resolved to avenge his 
brother, who had been cruelly assassinated. It 
was on Good Friday he met the murderer, and, 
taking his sword in hand, he prepared to strike 
him, when the murderer fell at his feet and asked 
his life in the name of Jesus crucified. At once 
John felt the sword fall from his grasp ; he lifted 
his enemy from the ground, embraced him, and par- 
doned him. In all your doubts, in all your tempta- 
tions, pronounce the Holy Name of Jesus with 
faith, and the most precious lights shall dissipate 
your doubts, and shall show you the way you 
should walk to find your Saviour and your God. 

Second Point, — The name of Jesus is a nourish- 
ment. There is in this blessed name some hidden 
virtue which goes to the very soul, penetrates it 
and warms it, and like some mysterious substance 
spreads throughout our whole being a certain 
strength and joy. Who has not experienced this 
wonderful effect? In the maladies of the soul, 
when temptations increase to violence, when the 
sources of holy consolations seem closed, when we 
feel ourselves growing weak, the heart without 
strength and the will without energy: everything 
in the service of God and in the practice of duty is 
tasteless, insipid, loathsome; then let us come to 
the foot of the altar, or before a crucifix, and medi- 
tate on the name of Jesus. At once confidence 



Tlic Holy Name of Jesus. 45 

shall be born in tis again, and our forces shall re- 
vive. What is the source of this fervor which is 
experienced at the foot of a crucifix or before an 
altar? The lover of Jesus is occupied in repeating 
His name or reflecting on its sweetness. He does 
not know how to formulate sublime prayers; he 
only knows how to repeat the name of Jesus, and 
he repeats it a thousand times without wearying 
at the repetition, and this adorable name, as some 
burning flame, warms his heart and consoles him. 

"I do not know,*' said St. Bernard, "if you un- 
derstand the marvellous effects of the name of Jesus, 
but as for me, everything, without this divine name, 
is insipid and wearisome. I must tell you, a book 
has no attractions for me if I do not find the name 
of Jesus in it; a conference or instruction cannot 
please me if Jesus is not mentioned in it. Jesus is 
honey to my mouth, melody to my ears, and a joy- 
ful song to my heart.'' 

If you look for the secret of this unspeakable 
sweetness which the loving heart discovers in the 
Holy Name of Jesus, you shall find it is born of a 
mysterious perfume attached to everything which 
comes from heaven. But should it not come also 
from the memories which this name awakens in the 
heart ? See what sweet thoughts are grouped about 
this amiable name, as delicious fruits lie about the 
tree which produces them ! The neglects and the 
adoration in the manger, the memory of virtues 
hidden during thirty years in the house of Joseph, 
the lessons and the blessings of a life which St. 



46 Feast of the Cireiuncision. 

Peter sums tip in two words, " He went about do- 
ing good;'* the opprobrium and sorrows of Calvary 
— all this recalls the name of Jesus. How, then, 
shall we not feel stirred while meditating on it? 

O Holy Name of Jesus, sacred and penetrating 
oil, whose unction has been poured out from the 
beginning, and only asks to be still poured out, 
pour Thyself with profusion in my heart, fill it with 
the infinite sweetness and the charms of Thy love, 
that, being purified by Thee, united to Thee, and 
satiated by the happiness of loving Thee, I may 
see verified in me these words of the Holy Spirit : 
" Thy name is as oil poured out, and it is why Thy 
servants have loved Thee exceedingly." 

Third Point, — The name of Jesus is a remedy. 
It heals every malady. First, the maladies of the 
body. The innumerable cures wrought by the 
apostles are so many consequences of the power of 
Jesus' name. There is nothing which can resist 
this divine name. Jesus Himself has proclaimed 
this truth. " He that shall believe in Me, shall 
work miracles greater than mine. In My name he 
shall expel demons. He shall have nothing to 
fear, neither the serpent's bite nor the effect of 
poisons. He shall impose hands on the sick and 
they shall be healed." 

The name of Jesus heals maladies of the heart. 
There are in life some cruel moments, when the 
wearied soul implores death as the only resource. 
In this sadness the name of Jesus shall remind you 
of the sadness of the amiable Victim in the Garden 



The Holy Name of Jesus. 47 

of Olives, and it shall reanimate and strengthen you. 
If ever you are the victim of ingratitude or of the 
injustice of men, the name of Jesus shall console 
you, and strengthen you by recalling the treason 
of Judas, the abandonment by the apostles, and the 
unworthy preference given to Barabbas. If despair 
threatens to invade your soul, then recall the name 
of Jcvsus; it is, says St. Ambrose, a name of hope, 
a name full of sweetness, a name which gives joy. 

The name of Jesus heals the maladies of the soul. 
The great malady of the soul, that which must be 
especially feared, because it attacks the very sources 
of supernatural life, is sin. The name of Jesus is 
a sovereign remedy for it. And why? Because it 
makes us detest sin by recalling its malice; because 
it makes us avoid sin by giving us strength in 
temptations; because it makes us weep for sin, by 
reminding us of the love of Him whom we offend. 
Learn then to pronounce this blessed name with 
respect — it is the name of your God ; with love — it 
is the name of your Benefactor; and with confi- 
dence — it is the name of your Saviour. 

O Name of Jesus, holy and adorable name, how 
much I love to speak and think of it! Be also 
honey for my lips, and melody for my heart. In 
dying, may my lips still murmur this name, and 
may I never cease to repeat it here on earth, until 
the moment when with the angels I may forever 
bless it. 



FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY. 

THE FAITH OF THE WISE MEN. 

IT is faith which, to-day, leads the Wise Men to 

the feet of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and it is faith 
. which can alone lead us to heaven and to God. 
But, to attain this happy result, our faith must be 
marked by the same characters which rendered it so 
admirable in the Wise Men, viz., docility, generos- 
ity, and constancy. 

First Point, — The faith of the Wise Men has been 
a docile faith. See with what promptitude they 
correspond with grace ! They say : '' We have seen 
His star in the East, and we have come to adore 
Him.'' There is no delay, no hesitation between 
the promptings of grace and their correspondence 
to it. This promptitude is one of the first condi- 
tions of a return to God. There are in life certain 
solemn and happy circumstances when grace speaks 
clearlv to our heart. For instance, when we make 
a retreat, or receive good advice, or see some good 
example, or listen to a most touching instruction, 
or hear of the death of some one whom we have 
loved, or when we learn something which stirs 
us to the very depths of our heart, this is the star 
which must lead us to Christ! Happy is he who 
shall follow it with docility ; his conversion is as- 



The Faith of the Wise Men. 49 

sured. Under the influence of grace which speaks, 
urges, and solicits, we are all-powerful ; there are 
no bonds which we cannot break, no obstacles which 
we cannot overcome. The Cananaean woman, 
Magdalene, and the prodigal son succeeded in the 
work of their sanctification because they were 
prompt to follow the inspirations of grace. But 
woe to him who looks backward, arrested by the 
countless considerations which the demon never 
fails to place before our eyes. The light disap- 
pears, conscience sleeps again, and the evil pene- 
trates deeper than ever. Is not this your experi- 
ence? How many times has grace enlightened 
your mind and moved your heart, and still you have 
always deferred your return. You have reason to 
fear that so much resistance to grace may be pun- 
ished by its withdrawal. 

Second Point, — The faith of the Wise Men was a 
generous faith. What tongue can tell the sacrifices 
they made? They are idolaters and strangers to 
the customs and languages of the countries through 
which they must pass; they are separated from 
Bethlehem by a great distance, and a respectable 
tradition tells us they were kings. How many 
diflBculties arise from these different circumstances ! 
They could allege the cares of their kingdoms, at- 
tachment to an hereditary worship, the length and 
difficulty of the journey, the fear of being deceived 
by the character of the star which served as guide 
— but no such thought hindered them. In fact, 
nothing arrests them ; they leave everything, and 
4 



50 Feast of the Epiphany, 

set out on their journey resolutely. What a com- 
parison between your conduct and theirs, and how 
the comparison should cause you to blush for your 
conduct ! 

At length they appear before Herod. Even in 
the presence of this king, so cruelly jealous, you 
shall not see the Wise Men dissimulate the object 
of their journey or conceal their sentiments. They 
openly declare to him that they have come, not to 
adore him, but to adore Him whose star they have 
seen. They are at once apostles and martyrs; and 
this is still the conduct of Christians really worthy 
of the name. The world is a master just as cruel 
and as jealous as Herod ever was; it wishes to be 
worshipped, or you shall incur its disgrace ; but the 
true Christian smiles at the menace of the world 
and remains faithful to his God, at the cost of the 
most sorrowful sacrifices. The coward heart, a 
slave of human respect, a slave of pride or ambition, 
instead of openly declaring his faith, conceals it; 
thus he paralyzes the action of grace, and, deceived 
by sterile desires, he defers his coming to God un- 
til a time that never comes. It is needless to say 
such conduct is not a model for imitation. 

The generosity of the Wise Men was evident, 
especially in their obedience. God had sent them 
an angel to warn them. He commanded them to 
return to their country by another way. At once 
they obeyed, without thinking of inquiring the 
reasons for such a strange order, without murmur 
or complaint. They resume their journey, on the 



The Faith of the Wise Men. 51 

road indicated, although it might be longer or more 
difficult. But what of the promise given to Herod? 
What shall the king say, what shall all Jerusalem 
think of the violation of their word? They are not 
at all disturbed by this thought ; God has spoken : 
that is sufficient. They know only how to obey. 
Do likewise in all the circumstances of your life. 
When you know the will of God, strive to accom- 
plish it, and put aside all human considerations. 

Third Point, — The faith of the Wise Men is con- 
stant. Although their faith was tested severely, 
still it surmounted every obstacle. The first trial 
of their faith was the disappearance of the star 
which had hitherto guided them. It leaves them 
as soon as they had entered Jerusalem and Herod's 
court. Hence two thoughts naturally follow from 
this : the first is, that to enjoy the holy communica- 
tions of grace, it is necessary to live far from cer- 
tain people, far, especially, from the society of 
Herods and the enemies of Christ. Do you wish 
to find your star, that is to say, to recover your first 
piety, the fervor of a certain epoch in your life? 
Depart from the world, from the tumult of business, 
from dissipation and pleasures — then shall your star 
reappear. 

The second instruction we must receive is that 
God does not give extraordinary lights and graces, 
unless the ordinary means are wanting. The star 
was useless to the Wise Men when they were in 
the midst of the doctors of the law, who could have 
indicated to them the way they should follow to 



52 Feast of the Epiphany, 

find Jesus. And thus the soul which is in the 
Church, who has for its guide the priests of the 
Lord, should not complain of the privation of cer- 
tain interior lights. The soul has her spiritual 
guide whom she should consult and abandon herself 
to his direction. If this aid were wanting, God 
shall supply it by particular graces. 

But the faith of the Wise Men must be tested 
once more. The star at length stops, but where? 
Doubtless over a magnificent palace, for what other 
dwelling could be worthy of God? But no ; it stops 
over an abandoned hut. They enter — and find it a 
stable! And what do they find there? On a little 
straw a child is lying, scarcely protected from the 
cold by the clothes which cover Him ; near Him are 
only two adorers, Mary and Joseph. What a test 
for ordinary faith ! i\.re they not deceived? Was 
the star they followed indeed the star of Jacob? 
Was the long journey they made well considered? 
But their faith is fortified by the very difficulties 
which should have shaken it. There is in their 
heart neither doubt nor hesitation. Behold them 
at the feet of the divine Infant, kissing with love 
the little hands which He presents to them, adoring 
with respect their God concealed under the ap- 
pearance of infancy. They open their treasures and 
place at His feet the triple tribute of their homage 
— gold because He is a king, myrrh because He is 
a man, and frankincense because He is their God. 

O Jesus, my God, concealed through love for me, 
no longer under the appearance of infancy, but 



The Faith of the Wise Men. 53 

under the eucharistic veils, I come to offer Thee, not 
gold, but the homage of a heart which loves Thee. 
I place my offering, not at the foot of the crib, but 
at the foot of Thy tabernacle. What a happiness 
forme, O my God, if after having recognized Thee, 
adored Thee, and loved Thee here below, under the 
veil which hides Thee from my mortal eyes, I shall 
merit the happiness to contemplate Thee, to adore 
Thee, and to love Thee in the bosom of Thy eter- 
nity, where Thou manifestest Thyself to Thy elect, 
face to face, and without veil of any kind. 



FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 

JESUS IS FOUND IN THE TEMPLE. 

\ A7E shall, to-day, consider how we lose Jesus, 
how we should seek Him, and where we 
. . . shall find Him. 

First Point. — How we lose Jesus. We lose Jesus 
by sin, and we lose Him through our spiritual dry- 
ness. In the first case the loss of Jesus is a punish- 
ment; in the second it is, ordinarily, a trial. We 
lose Jesus by sin : He departs from the soul when 
the demon enters it ; He leaves it alone with the 
horrible master it has chosen. To lose Jesus, His 
friendship, His grace, the sweetness of His conver- 
sations, and His benedictions, and the consolations 
of His love— to lose this God, who is in heaven the 
joy of the angels and of the elect, and to find in 
His place the angel of darkness, the tyrant of hell, 
and the tormentor of the reprobate, what a loss! 
what a misfortune ! However, behold the lot you 
have made for yourself by sin. You have lost 
Jesus, the Friend of your infancy, who lately re- 
ceived your first promises and your first vows ; who 
lisped with you the first simple lessons of faith; 
who called you to eat with Him a delicious bread, 
who shed on your soul such sweetness that the 



Jesus is Found in the Temple. 55 

memory of it causes your tears to flow ; oh, how 
you are to be pitied ! 

We lose Jesus by spiritual dryness, but usually 
this is a trial. Without having been unfaithful to 
her promises or engagements, the soul finds herself 
suddenly alone on the journey of life. She believes 
she possesses Jesus, and behold, He has abandoned 
her. She relies on His assistance, she hopes for 
His light. His counsel. His grace, but He is far 
from her. She has lost Him, or at least, as with the 
disciples at Emmaus, He has concealed His presence 
from her. This trial surely awaits us, for, after the 
sweetness of the first days, God ordinarily allows 
dryness of soul to follow, to know^ if we serve Him 
for Himself or for the favors we receive. In these 
circumstances, we should be generous and constant. 
To be happy in the performance of duty is a gift of 
God, and is never merited; but to be faithful to 
duty when it is an act depending on ourselves is 
always a sure indication of a heart solidly virtuous. 

Second Poijit, — How should we seek Jesus? We 
should seek Him eagerly, with confidence and with 
perseverance. Behold Marj^: hardly has she per- 
ceived the absence of Jesus than she goes, at once, 
in search of Him. She inquires for Him of all 
those whom she meets; she calls Him, and she 
shall know no rest until she finds Him. Imitate 
her example. When you have had the misfortune 
to lose Jesus by sin, recall Him at once: run and 
cast yourself at the feet of the priest, implore 
pardon, and merit it by your repentance. Why 



56 First Sunday after Epiphany, 

remain at enmity with God a week or even a day ? 
Do you not know that if you should die in that state, 
your eternal unhappiness would be assured ? And 
may you not die early, and at any moment? 

Seek Jesus with confidence. After the commis- 
sion of sin, do not aggravate your misfortune by dis- 
couragement or mistrust. Why are you discour- 
aged ? Virtue is a rude and difficult pathway ; it is 
not extraordinary that your progress should be 
slow, difficult, and marked by repeated falls; but 
these falls, these obstacles, are they reasons for dis- 
couragement ? No ! you must employ greater vigi- 
lance, develop greater energy, and seek in God the 
strength which you have not, and then go forward 
with confidence. The traveller who is discouraged 
by the length or the difficulties of the journey shall 
never arrive at his destination ; he only shall reach 
it who resolutely continues his journey. Therefore, 
seek Jesus with confidence, being well assured that 
He shall aid you in your seeking, and that He shall 
receive you with a goodness wholly paternal. 

Seek Jesus with perseverance. Our Lord has 
spoken a word which we should often reflect upon : 
'' He who would be saved must persevere to the 
end.'* It is indeed something to begin well. It is 
a grand thing for us to have received an education 
profoundly Christian ; it is a happy guarantee for 
salvation that our youth should be passed in the 
practice of love and virtue; but this is not enough. 
We must persevere; and this is the difficulty. 
Constancy seems to be a virtue unknown to the hu* 



Jesus is Found in the Temple. 57 

man heart. Very many begin well but end badly. 
Do not imitate them, but imitate Mary in her ardor 
and in her perseverance in seeking the divine In- 
fant. She will not allow herself to be discouraged, 
but continues her search until she has found the 
object of her regrets and her tears. You have 
prayed, it is true, and you still pray, but God seems 
to turn away from your entreaties ; do not be dis- 
couraged ; continue, multiply your prayers in pro- 
portion to the difficulties you may meet with, and 
God will give you the consolation of His love. He 
shall keep strict account of your sighs which you 
have sent towards heaven, of the prayers which were 
so often a cross, and a cross without unction ; the 
more painful the test shall have been, the greater 
shall be the recompense. 

Third Point, — Where shall we find Jesus ? It was 
in the temple that Mary found her Son, and it is 
also in the temple that we shall find Jesus when we 
shall have lost Him. If this loss is the punish- 
ment of your sins, there is in His house a salutary 
pool, on the shores of which He stands ready to 
heal you. He is not found in those profane assem- 
blies where you go to stifle the remorse which dis- 
turbs your conscience. He is not found in those 
frivolous books which shall only accomplish the 
ruin of your piety. He is not found among those 
frivolous people whose dissipation is an excuse for 
your own; but He is in the temple, and there you 
must come to find Him. In the sacred tribunal 
you shall learn what you must do to approach Him, 



58 First Sunday after Epiphany. 

or, rather, He Himself will come to you, and by 
the mouth of His minister He will speak to you. 
After the pardon of your faults. He will re-enter 
your heart, and you will experience happiness in 
recovering His grace. 

If the loss of Jesus is a trial, it is also a joy to 
know that it is in the temple that you can find Him. 
In the temple there is an altar — on the altar there 
is a tabernacle, and love for us holds Jesus enclosed 
in it. There it is we must seek Him in com- 
munion, or at least in prayer. Listen to this voice 
of sweet friendship, but take no heed of vain terrors 
which only separate you from your divine Master. 
''If you have faith," says St. Augustine, "the ab- 
sence of the Lord is only seeming. He is there, 
ever near you, concealed under eucharistic veils. 
Go to Him, cast yourself into His arms with a confi- 
dence wholly filial ; then you shall feel that peace 
is born again in your heart.*' 



SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 

THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST PROVED BY HIS MIRACLES. 

npHE Evangelist, after having recounted the 
change of water into wine, at the wedding 
. . . feast of Cana, remarks that, at the sight of this 
miracle, the disciples of Jesus believed in Him. It 
was impossible that this result should not follow, 
since miracles are so much the work of God that 
He only, or His delegate, could work them. If then 
the miracles recorded in the holy gospel are true, it 
is evident that Jesus is all that He claimed to be, viz. , 
the Son of God. Now the certitude of the evan- 
gelical miracles is demonstrated by their character 
and by the character of those who relate them, and 
by the monuments which give testimony of them ; 
it is impossible, therefore, to question their authen- 
ticity. 

First Point, — The character of these evangelical 
facts demonstrates their certitude. We observe at 
once they are important ; they were extraordinary 
circumstances and calculated to arrest attention. 
At the birth of Jesus, the angels announced Him by 
a magnificent canticle ; a brilliant star announced 
Him to the people of the East ; the Magi come to 
the palace of Herod to inquire for the newly born 
child. He is seen walking on the waters and com- 



6o Second Sunday after Epipha7iy, 

manding the tempest; in the middle of a repast 
He changes water into wine ; with a few loaves He 
feeds many thousands of men; by a word He heals 
the sick and raises the dead to life. At His death, 
the sun is obscured, the earth trembles, the veil of 
the temple is rent in twain. Facts so remarkable 
as these must necessarily attract public attention. 
Moreover, these extraordinary facts must claim the 
liveliest attention, since their object was the aboli- 
tion of the old worship and the foundation of the 
new one. The pagans on account of their attach- 
ment to idolatry, the Jews because of their respect 
for the Mosaic law, could not but take the most 
lively interest in these facts, which prepared de- 
struction for their temples and synagogues. 

The second character of the Gospel miracles is 
their publicity. They are not, as the false prodi- 
gies which some affect to compare with them, ob- 
scure or hidden facts, to which only a small number 
of competent witnesses testify. They are public 
facts, evident and easily verified. It was in all the 
cities of Palestine, in the public places, under the 
very eyes of the doctors of the law, that Jesus mani- 
fested His power. They on whom these miracles 
were performed are designated by name, by their 
dwelling, by their profession ; they still reside, after 
their healing, in the same villages which witnessed 
their infirmities. The twofold fact of their malady 
and their healing is quickly known by their rela- 
tives and friends and fellow-citizens ; their presence 
alone recalls to the whole country the prodigy to 



Divinity of CJirist Proved by His Miracles. 6i 

which they owe their health. Thus the very char- 
acter of the evangelical facts destroys every suspi- 
cion of deceit and illusion, and alone should suffice 
to hinder us from questioning their truthfulness. 

Second Point, — The certitude of the Gospel mir- 
acles comes from the character of the witnesses who 
attest them. And who are the witnesses who tes- 
tify? They are, in the first place, the apostles and 
the disciples of the Saviour, and among them there 
are eight who present their testimony in writing. 
See, then, eight contemporary authors who recount 
facts of which they have been, almost all, witnesses 
or participators. And this is not enough ; but be- 
side these eight witnesses, whose writings we have, 
we know that, at the same time, the other apostles 
and all the disciples of Jesus, to the number of 
eighty at least, professed and proclaimed and at- 
tested the truth of the facts recorded. This impor- 
tant consequence must be admitted, that of all the 
most celebrated and unvarying facts of antiquity 
there are none so well attested as the miracles 
of Jesus. The history of Socrates, for example, 
is guaranteed by only two disciples, viz., Plato 
and Xenophon, still no one ever doubts concern- 
ing their narration. How does it happen, then, 
that any one could be found to deny the Gospel 
miracles ? What motive can the unbeliever allege 
to refuse the testimony of so many, who by their 
writings or their living words have transmitted 
to us the history of Jesus ? Shall it be said they 
were deceived, or that they combined to deceive 



62 Second Sunday after Epiphany. 

the world? These two suppositions cannot bear 
for a moment serious examination. 

It is impossible for the apostles to have been de- 
ceived. Whatever idea may be formed of them, 
of their ignorance, of their credulity, we shall never 
persuade ourselves that during three entire years 
their Master could have been able to impose on 
them, and concerning daily facts so numerous and 
so visible. Ignorance and credulity do not go so 
far as that. There would remain a contradiction 
too shocking, between the idiotic character of the 
apostles, which must be admitted in this hy- 
pothesis, and their character which is evident from 
their writings, from their labors, and from their 
success. Therefore, the apostles have not been 
deceived. 

It is equally impossible that the apostles washed 
to deceive. This impossibility is evident when we 
consider at what time, in what places, and before 
whom the apostles published the miracles of their 
Master. It was at the very moment when the facts 
occurred; it was in the city of Jerusalem, the scene 
of the principal events; it was in the midst of a 
multitude of false witnesses, when the least de- 
ception would have sufficed to confound them. It 
must be admitted that the time, the place, and the 
persons were badly selected to propagate an imposi- 
tion. 

In fine, these men, who are supposed to be cheats 
and impostors, preached the purest morality, prac- 
tised the sublimest virtues, astonished and con- 



Divinity of Christ Proved by His Miracles. 6;^ 

founded their persecutors by the simplicity, the in- 
genuity, and the noble assurance of their discourses. 
They converted the world by the sanctity of their 
lives, and at length died in the midst of torments. 
How could they do all this for the senseless pleas- 
ure of sustaining a falsehood? We cannot recog- 
nize in these traits of character either impostors or 
liars. 

But the apostles are not the only ones who give 
testimony to the truth of the Gospel miracles ; they 
are recognized and admitted by the very enemies 
of Jesus. The Jews thought they would weaken 
their eJffect on the people by attributing them to the 
power of the demon, and hence they accused their 
Author of violating the tranquillity of the Sabbath. 
But these accusations were so many witnesses in 
favor of the Gospel facts, since to blame them was 
an affirmation of their existence. 

Third Point. — The miracles which Jesus wrought 
have existing monuments to give testimony for 
them. There is a monument, visible to every one 
and permanently abiding with us, which is constant- 
ly testifying to the truth of the miracles worked by 
our Lord and Saviour : it is the establishment of His 
Church in the world. It could not exist, in fact, 
except as a consequence and the result of miracles. 
Strive to form a just idea of the enterprise of the 
apostles. They labored to substitute an austere 
morality, all abnegation and penance, for a mo- 
rality which was easy and convenient ; they taught 
incomprehensible mysteries, instead of fanciful 



64 Second Sunday after Epiphany, 

fables ; they taught that He who had been crucified 
on an infamous cross must be adored; they must 
triumph over the repugnance of passions, the pride 
of reason, popular prejudices, and the power of the 
Roman emperors ; and by what means shall all this 
be effected? Here it is that the finger of God is 
most visible. Twelve poor fishermen, without 
credit, without eloquence, without wealth, without 
any human aid, undertake and execute the most 
extraordinary revolution which the annals of the 
human race have ever recorded. It is certainly 
most remarkable that under these unfavorable 
circumstances the apostles, sustained by the au- 
thority of miracles, should succeed; but that 
without miracles, and what is stranger still, with 
miracles reputed as false, they should succeed, this 
would be an inexplicable phenomenon, and a thou- 
sand times more incredible than all the miracles of 
Christianity. That the pagan world should aban- 
don its false deities and embrace the religion of a 
crucified God, it must have had some reason for be- 
lief. But the apostles proclaimed nothing else 
except the miracles of Christ. The world has wit- 
nessed miracles, and miracles so certain that the 
sharpest and most discerning can discover not the 
slightest vestige of trickery or deceit. The estab- 
lishment of the Christian religion is the most splen- 
did proof of this, since it constantly testifies to the 
truth of the evangelical facts. Jesus Christ has, 
then, performed miracles ; but God only can do this ; 
therefore, Jesus is God. 



Divinity of Christ Proved by His Miracles. 65 

Adorable Jesus, in the midst of blasphemies 
uttered by impiety, it is sweet for me to reflect on 
the titles Thou hast to my adorations as the Son of 
God and the Saviour of the world. Thus my faith 
is enlivened ; and may my love also become more 
ardent. 

5 



THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 

JESUS HEALS THE LEPER. 

'T'HE leper, whose healing is recounted to-day in 
the Gospel narrative, is the image of a soul 
. . . whom sin, and especially the sin of impurity, 
has stained. There is a striking resemblance be- 
tween the consequences of leprosy and the conse- 
quences of the sin of impurity. Leprosy, as it is 
depicted in our sacred books, produced four effects 
on the unfortunate victim. First, it corrupted the 
blood and attacked the very sources of life; 2d, it 
disfigured the body, and made it an object of dis- 
gust ; 3d, it condemned the leper to live far from the 
society of men ; 4th, it made his society dangerous, 
because of the contagion. You shall find these dif- 
ferent effects in sin, and especially in the sin of 
impurity. 

First Point. — As leprosy corrupts the blood, so 
the sin of impurity corrupts the heart and vitiates 
the very life of the soul. It not only attacks, the 
surface, but it attacks the most intimate sources of 
spiritual life. Under its dominion the soul quickly 
loses its noblest faculties ; memory is weakened, in- 
telligence enfeebled, and the noblest faculties are 
compelled to give way to ignoble instincts; there 
is no progress in science; application to study is 



Jesus Heals the Leper, 67 

impossible, no grand and elevated thoughts; the 
mind is narrowed, and genius becomes extinct. 

In the heart the effects are still more deplorable. 
It perverts the most happy dispositions and de- 
velops the most shameful desires; conscience is 
blunted and loses its first delicacy. The victim be- 
comes indifferent to disorders the very thought of 
which was once revolting; a stupid carelessness 
succeeds to vivacity of faith and fervor and piety. 
The tastes, the inclinations, and the very character 
are changed. Sin has done in the soul what leprosy 
has done in the body; it has corrupted it at the 
foundation, it has vitiated the very sources of life. 

Second Point.— As leprosy disfigures the body and 
makes it an object of horror and disgust, so sin dis- 
figures our souls and makes them an object of dis- 
gust to the heart of God. You would understand 
this second effect of sin if you could understand 
the beauty of a soul in a state of grace, the splendor 
with which it shines, the glory which surrounds it, 
and the holy pleasure with which God regards it. 
This beauty, it is true, has nothing exterior, noth- 
ing sensible. The prophet tells us ''that the glory 
of the daughter of Sion is within her.*' None of 
those splendid rays fall on our mortal eyes, but the 
splendor is no less real. It is that which gives a 
charm to infancy, it is that refreshing grace which 
exercises over our hearts an empire as sweet as it 
is irresistible. 

To know the price of a soul adorned by grace, we 
must consult the Holy Scriptures ; for what is more 



68 Third Sunday after Epiphany, 

reliable than the testimony of uncreated wisdom? 
Hear, therefore, what the Holy Spirit says of a soul 
ornamented with grace and the esteem which He 
has for it: ''I who am your God, I who can deceive 
none, nor can I be deceived, I declare to you that 
I only consider silver as dross when compared with 
a just soul." And is this enough? No; bring to- 
gether all the gold that is in the bowels of the 
earth : God considers all that as only a little grain 
of sand in comparison with a just soul. There are 
indeed many precious stones in the depths of the 
sea ; they are so beautiful that they serve as orna- 
ments for vanity, and heighten by their splendor 
the glory of a diadem; but when God compares 
them with a just soul He finds the soul a thousand 
times more precious. It is a grand thing to rule 
over an extensive kingdom, to be seated on a bril- 
liant throne, but all that is nothing when compared 
with a soul adorned by grace. In a word, unite all 
glory, all beauty, all grandeur, yet all these cannot 
approach the beauty, the merit, the excellence of a 
soul which is clothed with grace and empurpled 
by the blood of the Son of God made man. 

Sin, as a hideous leprosy, strips the soul of its 
beauty and makes it an object of disgust and horror 
in the eyes of God. It is with tears in their eyes 
that the prophets deplore the unhappy state of a 
soul stained and disfigured by sin. Jeremias ex- 
claims: " How has the pure gold been changed into 
vile metal ! All the glory of the daughter of Sion 
has departed !'* Unfortunate soul ! Who shall give 



Jesus Heals the Leper, 69 

to my eyes two sources of tears to weep for thy 
misfortune ? 

Third Point, — The law required that every leper 
should be driven from the people and separated 
from his fellows as an unclean being. This is also 
the destiny of the sinner. As long as a man is in 
the state of grace, he is the child of God, the heir 
to heaven, the co-heir with Jesus. What a dignity! 
He enjoys all the rights of the children of the 
Church, he shares in all the goods she possesses, he 
participates in the prayers of the saints in heaven 
and of the just on earth: he has a right to the 
merits of the august sacrifice, to all the indulgences 
which the Church draws from her treasury. What 
riches! But by sinning he loses everything — he 
loses his titles of child of God and citizen of heaven, 
he is deprived of all the merits he has acquired, 
and even of the right to acquire new merits. True, 
indeed, he is not cut off from the bosom of the 
Church; he is always a member of it, but he is a 
dead member. He receives also certain graces, 
but they are weak graces, which his bad dispositions 
render sterile. In a word, he appears living in the 
eyes of men, but in the eyes of God he is dead. 
Oh, how horrible is this state, and how much you 
are to be pitied if you do not understand this mis- 
fortune! 

Fourth Point, — There is a fourth effect common 
to sin and to leprosy: it is contagion. Leprosy is 
a malady to be feared so much because it is con- 
tagious. The leper communicated his malady to 



70 Third Sunday after Epiphany, 

all who approached him, unless suitable precautions 
were taken. This explains the severity of the laws 
regarding it and the reason of its universal repul- 
sion. Sin is also contagious, and is communicated 
and spread by bad words and by bad examples. A 
vicious friend shall lead you to vice ; -his corrupting 
discourse shall rob you of your faith, little by little; 
his undue confidences shall initiate you into the 
knowledge of evil ; his insidious words shall cause 
you to love him, and his conduct shall justify him 
in your eyes. 

Fear, then, the influence of a friend who is not 
most virtuous; break away from his society; fly 
from him as 5^ou would fly from the sight of a 
serpent ; this is the advice which the Holy Spirit 
gives you by the mouth of the wise man. In giv- 
ing you this advice, he would teach you that a 
vicious friend contains within him a subtle poison, 
which escapes from his whole conduct, insinuates 
itself into the faculties of the soul, and carries with 
it ruin and death. 

O my God, preserve my soul from the leprosy of 
sin ; do not permit that, in becoming Thy enemy, I 
should lose that which in Thy eyes constitutes my 
true beauty, and that which can alone give me 
rights to heaven. Oh, may I never become for 
others the occasion of scandal or ruin! But if I 
have had the misfortune to fall into sin, give me 
the strength to rise again, and to find in a generous 
confession both happiness and life, by obtaining 
Thy friendship again. 



FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 

THE TEMPEST APPEASED BY JESUS. 

npHE sea on which the apostles embarked is the 
image of the world, — the sea strewn with 
. . . dangers and countless shipwrecks. The ship 
which carries them is the figure of your soul in 
its journey towards eternity. The tempest which 
threatens to submerge them represents the tempta- 
tions of every kind, which embarrass us on our 
way to heaven. Every one experiences these 
temptations, the child and the young man, the full- 
grown man, and the aged; the Trappist in his 
solitude, as well as the worldly man in the midst 
of his festivities. The most scrupulous and exact 
piety is not even a safeguard from their attacks. 
Did not temptations come to those who were in 
closest companionship with Christ? Be careful, 
therefore, lest you believe that your love for God, 
your fervor in His service, your fidelity in the ful- 
filment of your duties shall shield you from tempta- 
tions. This would be a dangerous error. On the 
contrary, your piety and your innocence shall be 
the reason for the demon to make greater efforts to 
bring you under his dominion. There are hearts 
enough who deliver themselves up as a prey to their 
enemy. He is assured of these, but he is desirous 



72 Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, 

of choice souls like yours ; to make a conquest of 
them he redoubles his seductive snares. Still you 
must not be discouraged by temptations, but see in 
them the consolation that you are not as yet under 
his dominion. St. Francis de Sales has said that the 
dogs do not bark after the people who belong to the 
house, but only after strangers ; so the demon leaves 
in a sad peace those whom he knows belong to him, 
and wearies the others by his pursuits, and invents a 
thousand artifices to turn them away from the paths 
of virtue. Alas, he only succeeds too well! Just 
cast a glance about you: where are so many souls 
that were hitherto so fervent? What have become 
of them? They have become a prey to the demon, 
and now they languish far from God and from 
virtue, in a shameful slavery! Weep for them, and 
conjure our good Lord to keep you far from such 
misfortunes. 

Second Point, — While the tempest raged and 
threatened to engulf the bark on which the apostles 
sailed, "Jesus slept.** This sleep of Jesus is the 
occasion of our great temptations and the principle 
of all our falling ; it is the symbol of the languor 
which conducts a soul to those negligences which 
she permits, the distractions in which she allows her- 
self to be drawn — certain affections which are wholly 
natural and which have over her too great sway, 
and especially the facility to commit light faults. 
True, indeed, these faults do not deprive us of the 
presence of Jesus, but they diminish the effect of 
His presence ; they do not destroy His grace, but 



Tlie Tempest Appeased by Jesus, 73 

they weaken and diminish it. Grave sins crucify 
Him in us, while light offences cause Him to sink 
into a deep sleep. This sleep of Jesus in our soul 
is not always a crime, but it is always a misfortune. 
In fact, it is during His sleep that the storms arise, 
that the passions are awakened, that the enemy, 
who never sleeps, renews with greater activity all 
his dangerous attacks. He is too weak to conquer 
us when we are divinely assisted, but he awaits 
the moment to combat with us when we are not 
assisted by this heavenly aid. If, therefore, you 
perceive that Jesus sleeps in you, awaken Him im- 
mediately. That is to say, if you feel your fervor 
weakening or your heart growing cold towards God, 
your courage unequal to the fulfilment of your 
duties, promptly renew your ardor and take heart 
again. A soldier should not lay aside his arms 
when he perceives the approach of the enemy; on 
the contrary, then it is he should be animated by 
a new courage. 

However, be not presumptuous; and never for- 
get that you can do nothing by yourself — your 
strength comes from God ; ask Him for His grace 
most earnestly. Even as the apostles, have re- 
course to the divine Master, and cry to Him with a 
profound feeling of your weakness: ''Lord, save 
me, for without your aid I shall perish.*' Be as- 
sured, if you are faithful to invoke God in the mo- 
ment of danger, if you invoke Him with confi- 
dence, the same prodigy which was wrought for the 
apostles shall be wrought for you ; Jesus shall again 



74 Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, 

command the tempest to be appeased, and tran- 
quillity and calm shall be restored to yonr soul. 

Third Point. — But when the temptation shall have 
passed be assured your work is not over. Either 
you have successfully resisted, or you have yielded. 
If you have been fortunate enough to have resisted, 
do not claim for yourself the glory of this triumph. 
Be careful to refer all the honor of your victory to 
God. Gratitude for benefits received shall gain for 
you new blessings and attract new graces. Moses, 
after his victory over the Amalekites, erected an 
altar on the battlefield and there offered to God a 
sacrifice of thanksgiving. BoSwSuet praised the great 
Conde, the conqueror at Rocroy, for having intoned 
the Te Deum on the field of battle, thus recognizing 
that he was indebted to God for his first victory. 
Imitate these examples, for, since you are weak, it 
is impossible to triumph over the enemy by your 
own unaided strength. It is to the protection of 
the Virgin Mother and the assistance which God 
sends you by His angels that you are indebted for 
victory; why then take the glory as if it had come 
from yourself? 

If you are obliged to admit defeat, then deplore 
it, but be not cast down or discouraged. Here 
there are two dangers to be feared: indifference 
and discouragement. Indifference, alas! is only 
too frequent. One commits sin and thinks of it no 
more; one is the enemy of God and remains tran- 
quil. Should you see some loved one die you can- 
not restrain your tears ; but your soul is dead in sin. 



Tlie Tempest Appeased by Jestis, 75 

Shall you be insensible to this spiritual death ? Be 
on your guard against this guilty carelessness. You 
have offended your God? then cast yourself on your 
knees and ask for pardon. Your soul is stained by 
sin? then do not remain in sin, but hasten to wash 
it away in the sacred waters of penance. 

Also avoid discouragement. This would be noth- 
ing less than a new outrage against God. And let 
us ask, What can be the motive for discouragement? 
You have sinned ; do you think you are impeccable ? 
Are you stronger than Samson, holier than David, 
or wiser than Solomon? Whence come, therefore, 
your discouragement and anger? God opens His 
heart to you; have recourse to His mercy. Instead 
of being saddened or unduly discouraged, let the 
remembrance of your faults serve as a motive of 
greater humility, since you are so weak; more 
patience, since you have so much to expiate ; more 
charity, since you have so much need of indulgence. 
Oh, then shall your fault be a happy one, and even 
as God you shall draw good from evil. 

O my God, how good Thou art! Thou experi- 
encest more pity than anger at the sight of Thy 
children's faults. I wish hereafter to entertain for 
Thee a truly filial confidence. If I have the mis- 
fortune to offend Thee, I shall cast myself into 
Thy arms, feeling well assured that Thou wilt not 
reject Thy repentant child. 



FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 

THE MINGLING OF THE GOOD AND THE WICKED. 

'T^HE parable of the cockle mingled with the good 
grain in the field of the father of the family, 
. . . furnishes ns an occasion of meditating on the 
mingling of the good and the bad in the Church of 
Jesus Christ. Consider how some become bad, why 
God allows the association of the good and the 
wicked, what duties devolve on you, and how this 
mixture of good and bad shall terminate. 

First Point. — How men become wicked. We can- 
not accuse God as the cause of this mingling of 
good and bad which afflicts the Church so much ; 
every sinner must accuse himself only for his per- 
versions. God has done everything for us that we 
should be good and virtuous. Not to mention here 
the sacrifice of the cross, which has been the prin- 
ciple of all justice and every virtue worthy of the 
name, how many graces have followed for us? 
Grace of the sacraments, grace of holy inspiration, 
grace of instruction and good example. There has 
been no admixture ; yet after all this the servants 
of the good master were obliged to say : " Master, 
have you not sown good grain in your field? How 
comes it we find cockle there?** Was ever reply 
more just? "It is my enemy that has done this." 



Tlie Mingling of the Good and the Wicked. 77 

Yes, the demon, ever hostile to Jesus, and the pas- 
sions ever hostile to our happiness — these are the 
enemies whose artifices and cruel influence we 
must always fear. 

And how does the demon come to pervert even 
the most virtuous hearts and subject them to his 
rule? Jesus Himself tells us; he comes in the 
night, and as a thief. Well does Satan know that, if 
he presented sin in its true colors to an innocent soul, 
he should be surely rejected; therefore he presents 
it under a deceitful color and as if in the night. 
He persuades us that this thought, this doubt, 
this society, this association is most innocent, and 
under the pretext of that pretended innocence we 
yield and insensibly entangle ourselves in his snares. 
The evil which is the consequence of our want of 
foresight is not perceived at once, but it is not the 
less real. Thus the cockle while it is only in the 
germ does not appear, but after its growth it 
saddens our heart. We must constantly watch and 
be on our guard, if we would protect our hearts 
from the first attacks of evil; every temptation is 
easily rejected at the outset, but once let it enter 
the soul, it will be a difficult thing to drive it 
out. Therefore it is our blessed Saviour gives us 
this advice, to which we cannot be too faithful: 
" Watch," not indeed to hinder the temptation : that 
is impossible; but "lest you enter into tempta- 
tion" — that is, not to allow it to enter your heart. 

Second Point, — Why does God allow this mingling 
of the good and the wicked? It is through His 



78 Fifth Sunday after Epiphany. 

bounty for sinners ; the tolerance which God mani- 
fests for them is a marvel of His mercy. '*The 
long patience of God/' says St. Paul, " invites sinners 
to repentance.'* Isaias says "it is to pardon them 
that he awaits them;'* and the prophet Ezechiel 
adds: *'God does not w^ish the death of a sinner, 
but that he may be converted and live." We can- 
not but admire here the unspeakable goodness of 
God. If divine justice had struck you when you 
were under the yoke of sin, where would you be 
now? Alas, even in this very moment where 
would you go, if the Supreme Judge came to de- 
mand the account which you must one day render? 

With regard to the just, their mingling with 
sinners serves for their sanctification. It is in per- 
secutions that virtue is purified ; it is in temptations 
it is strengthened; virtue must be exercised if it 
shall become sustaining. The trials of every kind 
to which the wicked subject the good keep them in 
continual activity and hinder them from growing 
weary in well-doing. Virtue is never more beau- 
tiful than when it is victorious over illusions, seduc- 
tions, bad examples, contempt, threats, and the per- 
secutions of the world, which are always anxious 
to corrupt and desirous of being corrupted. 

Third Point, — What should our conduct be with 
regard to sinners? The tolerance which God man- 
ifests towards them must oblige us to tolerate them 
also, and to treat them with sweetness and indul- 
gence. And by what right could you reject those 
whom God Himself tolerates? Perhaps this im- 



The Mingling of the Good and the Wicked. 79 

pious one or that sinner, whose conduct is revolt- 
ing to you, may be destined to become a vessel of 
election. Perhaps these sinners may be called to 
a higher sanctity than you whose indiscreet sever- 
ity would hurl anathemas against them. Alas ! you 
who have such great need of indulgence, how can 
you show such little indulgence to others? 

A second duty towards sinners is to labor as much 
as you can for their conversion. There are two 
means to attain this desirable end, and the first is 
our own example. This means is, the first of all, 
the most efficacious and most free from all incon- 
venience. We should give to sinners a salutary 
horror for vice by the sight of our own virtues, and 
by seeing what we are they shall learn to blush for 
what they are. 

The second means to convert the wicked is 
prayer. The prayers of the just shall procure for 
them the grace of conversion. To the prayers of 
St. Stephen and St. Monica the Church is indebted 
for her two great lights — St. Paul and St. Augus- 
tine. God wishes only to pardon and to bless, but 
His mercy must be implored by the prayers of the 
just. By the mouth of His prophet He tells us: 
" I have sought a man who shall stand between My 
justice and the sinner, to arrest My arm, but I have 
not found him." Make it your duty to interpose 
between God and so many sinners who are rushing 
blindly to the abyss; this should be a sweet duty 
to discharge when it is a question of obtaining the 
conversion of a friend or the salvation of a father 



So Fifth Sunday after Epiphany. 

or a mother. How can you refuse to procure for 
yourself a joy so worthy of a Christian heart? 

Fourth Point, — How shall the mingling of the 
good and bad terminate? By the chastisement of 
the wicked and the recompense of the good. " At 
the time of the harvest, I shall say to the reapers, 
Gather up first the cockle and bind it in bundles to 
burn, but the wheat, gather into my barn." Be- 
hold the destiny of both : strive to comprehend the 
consequences, first with regard to sinners. The 
words of the parable alone suffice to make you 
appreciate the rigorous chastisement which awaits 
them. The time of the harvest is the end of the 
world, and the reapers are the angels. In the har- 
vest time the cockle is gathered and given to the 
flames, and so the Son of man, at the end of the 
world, shall send His angels, who shall take from 
His kingdom all scandalous sinners and those who 
have committed iniquity, and shall cast them into 
the furnace of fire, where " there shall be weeping 
and gnashing of teeth.'' 

Behold the frightful destiny of the wicked. But 
oh, how much the destiny of the just is to be en- 
vied! Jesus Himself says: "Then the just shall 
shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." 
He then adds : " He that has ears to hear, let him 
hear." 

O my God, who is there that shall not be awak- 
ened from sleep, in reflecting on these great truths? 
Let the impious and libertine close their ears, lest 
they should hear, but it shall be their own folly and 



The Mingling of the Good and the Wicked, 8i 

misfortune. For myself I ask, O my God, a docile 
heart to profit by such an important lesson. De- 
tach my heart from all that is transitory, that I may 
comprehend and taste what is eternal. Ah, Lord, 
grant that Thy justice may terrify me, that Thy 
goodness may assure me, that Thy law may be my 
rule, and that, walking here below in Thy light, I 

may attain, one day, to Thy glory. 
6 



SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CHURCH. 

n^HE grain of mustard seed, of which Jesus speaks 
to-day in the Gospel, which is the smallest of all 
. . . seeds and in time becomes one of the largest 
plants, is the natural emblem of the feeble begin- 
ning and the rapid progress of Christianity. This 
association of extreme weakness and all-powerful 
strength in religion is the most striking proof of 
its divinity. You will comprehend it, if you con- 
sider, on the one hand, the obstacles which were 
opposed to the establishment of Christianity, and, 
on the other, the seeming weak means which have 
surmounted every opposition. 

First Point, — The obstacles which opposed the 
establishment of religion came from within herself 
and from the world without. She had against her 
the obscurity of her dogmas. In fact, she labored 
to obtain from pagan peoples the abandonment and 
the sacrifice of all their beliefs, and also to ask them 
to adopt mysteries which were wholly inexplicable 
to reason — the mystery of but one God the Creator, 
and in this only God three persons who participate 
in the divinity without dividing it, and a unity of 
nature in a trinity of persons. With this mystery 
of the Trinity there was another still more incom- 



The Establishment of the Church. ?>i 

prehensible, viz., a God made man. To these two 
great mysteries join the dogma of original sin and 
all the truths associated with and dependent on it — 
the human race, whole and entire, tainted by the 
fault of only one person ! even children stained 
in the wombs of their mothers ; a virgin who gives 
birth and yet without ceasing to be a virgin; a God 
who dies on a cross, and this first sacrifice to be 
renewed on our altars from age to age; priests 
clothed with the power of pardoning sins ; and, v/hat 
is more prodigious still, these priests at the altar 
distributing to the faithful their God, who after re- 
deeming them nourishes them with His substance! 
Behold some of the truths which the apostles 
preached. What man could have dared to invent 
such a doctrine? What men would have been so 
senseless as to preach it, or to believe it, if it had 
no other support than the mere word of a man ? 

Religion had against her the severity of her mo- 
rality. There was in her teachings no sweet or con- 
venient philosophy which smiled on the passions, 
which promised festivals, or invited her followers to 
joys and pleasures. No; it is a religion of detach- 
ment, abnegation, and penance; her precepts and 
especially her maxims are fearful to nature. You 
can form some idea of the opposition that religion 
must contend against in the world, if you recall the 
strange words by which the Son of man begins His 
moral code. " Blessed are they" — but who are 
"they'*? The rich or the powerful ones of the 
world? Hitherto this was the universal belief, but 



84 Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, 

it was an error which the world loved to believe. 
But Jesus exclaimed : " Blessed are they who 
mourn/' " Blessed are they who suffer persecution 
for justice sake/' He had already said : '' He who 
wishes to come after Me must deny himself; he 
must take up his cross daily and follow Me." These 
maxims and these precepts were far from being at- 
tractive, it must be admitted, especially for men who 
were habituated to the sensuality and luxury which 
the pagan religion authorized. These teachings 
were, therefore, a second obstacle — humanly speak- 
ing, insurmountable — to the enterprise of the 
apostles. 

To these obstacles add the prejudices which the 
Christian religion must at once develop. It w^as a 
new religion; it had just been born; and the dis- 
graceful punishment of its Author had already at- 
tached to it a character of ignominy and disgrace. 
A religion which attacked every prejudice, every 
habit, and every popular belief must necessarily 
have against her the natural repugnances, the force 
of inclination, the tyranny of habit, the impressions 
of education and of custom. Humanly speaking, 
contempt and public ridicule should welcome these 
twelve miserable fishermen, preaching a God cruci- 
fied and imploring the homages of a pagan world 
for a man attached to an infamous gibbet. 

Second Point. — You have just seen the obstacles 
which arose for the apostles from the very nature 
of their enterprise. Consider the obstacles which 
they were obliged to overcome from the world with- 



The Establishmeiit of the Church. 85 

out. The epoch when they received their mission 
to found a new religion precisely coincided with 
the age of Augustus, — this famous age, which sug- 
gests to our mind the idea of exalted tastes, talents, 
and genius; an age rich in great orators, philoso- 
phers, poets, and historians; but, let us add, the age 
of corruption as well as of science. It was to such 
men, who were vain of their knowledge, that the 
apostles came to preach a doctrine whose dogmas 
appeared shocking to reason. It was to these men, 
plunged in delicacy and luxury, that they came to 
prescribe rules of conduct which wounded the most 
imperious desires of their hearts. 

But these obstacles, however great they may be, 
are nothing compared with the efforts which the 
whole world made to hinder the establishment of 
Christianity. And what do we see at the birth of 
the Church? Hell unchained raises against her all 
the powers of earth. Philosophers and a multitude 
of sophists, spread out in the East and the West, 
join their talents and their lights to arrest the prog- 
ress of Christianity. They pervert its dogmas, 
revile its mysteries, and ridicule its worship. Cel- 
sus, Porphyrus, and Julian compose lampoons, in 
which they display all the resources of their genius, 
to uphold idolatry and to decry the new religion. 

To the perfidy of reasoning and of calumny the 
bloodiest persecutions are added. The people arise 
as one man against the faithful; the cities reject 
them from their walls; while the provinces arm 
themselves with the firm intent of extermination. 



S6 Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, 

Nor is this enough : legal persecution is organized, 
public force is opposed as a huge barrier to the 
progress of Christianity. The emperors, by their 
edicts, point out what must be the vigilance and 
cruelty of the magistrates. Persecution becomes 
general in the whole empire; everywhere the 
Christians are pursued as public enemies; neither 
the bosom of their families, nor the crevices of the 
rocks, nor the solitude of the deserts shall shield 
them from the rigor of the laws. When the ordi- 
nary punishments did not suffice, new torments 
were invented or the old ones were renewed, 
which are enough to make one shudder. Neither 
rank, age, sex, virtue, services rendered to the 
country, in fact nothing could pardon the crime of 
being a Christian. The persecution organized 
against the disciples of Christ was not a persecution 
of some days, or some years, but it was by ages 
that we must count the persecutions of the Church. 
We cannot follow it during three hundred years 
except by the traces of blood which was shed and 
by the light of the funeral piles kindled against 
her. These are the obstacles which Christianity 
was obliged to overcome even at her very birth. 

Now that you know both the project of the 
apostles and the obstacles which opposed them in 
their enterprise, strive to see if success were pos- 
sible in the ordinary course of things. On the 
one hand, there is a religion, sweet, pompous, and 
agreeable, which is believed to have been estab- 
lished by the gods and which is considered as an> 



The Establishment of the Church. 87 

cient as the world; on the other hand, a religion 
severe, mysterious, and wholly new. In the first 
were the sages, the philosophers, the armies, and 
the entire universe ; in the second there were some 
ignorant men, without defence, without support, 
without assistance ; on one side there were author- 
ity, inhumanity, fury; on the other there were 
weakness, patience, and death. On what side must 
victory come? Which one must win? Evidently 
the palm belongs to idolatry. But no ; the emperors 
from their high thrones ordain that the gods must 
be adored. But the gods are despised. Twelve 
Galileans summon the universe to the feet of their 
crucified Master; and the world hastens to obey 
them, in spite of tortures, scaffolds, and funeral 
piles. Can you not see here the finger of God? It 
is visible to all eyes ; and if this submission of the 
human race has not been secured by the force of 
miracles, the conversion of the world would be 
more strange and astonishing than all miracles. 

O my God, how I love to reflect on those prodi- 
gies which prove the divinity of the Church ; m}^ 
faith in them becomes livelier and more profound ; 
may my love for them become more ardent and 
more generous. 



SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 

THE PARABLE OF THE LABORERS AND THE VINE- 
YARD. 

rpirst Point. — Under the figure of the father of 
the family who goes out early in the morning 
. . to engage laborers for his vineyard, it is easy 
to recognize God, the common Father of all men. 
By the agency of His ministers or by the secret 
promptings of grace He does not cease to call us to 
Himself, and entreats us to labor in His vineyard, 
that is to say, in the cultivation of our soul. If the 
vineyard in which the father of the family sends 
his workmen represents a figure of the soul, it is in 
accordance with the word of God itself. In fact, 
everywhere in Holy Scripture we find that God 
claims our souls as His domain. And this is, after 
all, only just, since we belong to Him by the most 
legitimate titles. Is it not He who has formed us 
with His own hands ? Is it not from Him that we 
hold all that we have and all that we are? And 
not content with having created our soul and en- 
riched it with the most magnificent gifts, God has 
reconquered it from the demon by redeeming it 
with His blood ; hence we belong to Him by the 
triple right of birth, conquest, and love. The soul 
thus redeemed God places in our keeping; it is a 



parable of the Laborers and the Vineyard. 89 

trust He has confided to us ; it is the field which He 
commands us to cultivate and make fruitful for Him. 

If the field of our soul remain sterile, this fault 
cannot be imputed to the Father of the family, since 
He has done for her all He could do. He has placed 
her in the bosom of the Church, where she receives 
the abundance of graces which God does not cease 
to pour out on this blessed soil ; He surrounds her 
with the sacraments, and she participates in all the 
benefits which Jesus has merited by His death. She 
has been overwhelmed by every kind of grace and 
enriched by every blessing. Can she ask of God 
anything more? In confiding to us the culture of 
a land thus prepared, has He not the right to ex- 
pect some fruit in return? Here reflect seriously 
on yourself ; recall the graces you have hitherto re- 
ceived, all the means of sanctification which have 
been lavished on you, and ask yourself what return 
you have made? 

Second Point. — The different hours at which the 
father of the family sends the laborers to his vine- 
yard mark the different ages at which we give our- 
selves to the service of God : infancy, youth, mature 
years, and old age. At all times of our life, the 
Father of the human race, our first, our truest 
Father, comes to us to urge us to labor for our 
sanctification. He it is who always makes the first 
advances. He goes out to seek us in the public 
place, that is to say, in the midst of the dissipations 
of life, in the tumult of business, in the pleasures of 
the world. Our very faults do not discourage Him ; 



90 Septuagesiina Sunday, 

however great they may be, still His merciful good- 
ness extends a pardon to ns, and even urges us to 
merit it. He exhorts us to labor for our sanctifica- 
tion by the words which His ministers address us; 
by the religious objects which He exposes to our 
view ; by the examples of virtue of which He 
makes us witnesses ; by the disgrace with which He 
afflicts us ; by the sudden deaths with which He 
visits our imitators and, perhaps, the accomplices 
of our sins ; in a word, by all the circumstances with 
which He does not cease to surround us. 

He especially exhorts us by the different senti- 
ments which He excites within us. Have no doubt 
about it : these pious promptings which you experi- 
ence, these holy thoughts which are suggested 
from time to time to your mind, this remorse 
which troubles you, the inquietudes which disturb 
you at the remembrance of your sins — these are all 
so many inspirations which God sends you and so 
many exhortations which He addresses you. If 
hitherto you have remained deaf to His invitations, 
you have reason to fear lest He cease to call you 
and, as it were, pursue you. Do not persevere in 
a resistance which may be fatal to you ; cease to 
offer your refusal to His tenderness, and have for 
your soul as much pity as He Himself has for it. 

Third Point, — The evening at last had come, and 
the father of the family said to his steward : '' Call 
the laborers and pay them their hire beginning from 
the last even to the first." When the evening of life 
shall come — that solemn moment when our labors 



Parable of the Laborers and the Vineyard, 91 

shall have terminated and the recompense shall 
begin — we shall appear before the Steward, before 
Jesus, who has been appointed by His Father the 
Judge of the living and the dead. The soul at her 
departure from the body, in which she has so long 
been enclosed, shall see herself suddenly transported 
to the foot of the supreme tribunal, and the state 
in which she is found at that moment shall fix her 
lot for eternity. She shall be for all eternity either 
adorned and brilliant by the virtues with which she 
is enriched, or she shall be stained, disfigured, and 
punished for the sins with which she is covered. 

And, perhaps, you are surprised to see the Master 
of the vineyard giving to all the laborers the same 
recompense, — the same to those who have labored 
only an hour as to those who have borne the heat 
and the burdens of the day. This is a warning 
which Jesus gives us. He would teach us that God 
shall dispense His recompense, not according to the 
time engaged, but according to the fervor which 
has been brought to the work. He regards the 
quality rather than the quantity of the labor ; He 
weighs the work instead of counting it. Oh, happy 
are they who from their early youth have borne 
the yoke of the Lord ; they certainly have great ad- 
vantages ; but, at last, the time of labor can also be 
rewarded because of the devotion which has been 
given. The traveller who starts on his journey too 
late may, by hastening, reach and even pass him 
who started early in the morning and who walked 
slowly. 



92 Septuagesima Sunday, 

And this also explains these other words of the 
Father of the family, viz. : " The first shall be last, 
and the last shall be first. *' Our divine Saviour does 
not wish us to understand that they who begin late 
in the service of God shall, therefore, precede those 
who shall have served Him early. Far from us this 
thought which is so injurious to divine justice and 
wisdom, and which should be calculated to encour- 
age a delay of conversion so severely condemned. 
The sense of these words is, simply, that among 
those who are last in the order of their vocation 
very many shall become first in the order of glory ; 
that we shall see sinners converted, more penetrated 
by humility, more inflamed by charity than certain 
just men ; and that they who shall have labored for 
their salvation but a short time, and more effec- 
tively, shall surpass those v/ho shall have labored a 
longer time, but with less zeal and ardor. 

O my God, how long Thou hast already called me, 
and I have always resisted the voice of Thy grace ! 
To-day Thou callest me still, and I wish to profit 
by this new appeal to labor in Thy vineyard, that 
is to say, for my salvation, with promptitude, since 
I have lost so much time; with fidelity, since all 
my moments belong to Thee; with perseverance, 
since the recompense is given only to those who 
labor until evening has come; with courage, to 
repair the lost time; with fervor, since Thy recom- 
pense shall be measured, not by the time spent in 
Thy service, but by the ardor with which it shall 
be accomplished. 



SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY, 

THE WORD OF GOD. 

Thirst Point, — Four kinds of hearers usually sur- 
round the Christian pulpit. The first are 
. . likened to the great highway on which a part 
of the seed falls, as is mentioned in the Gospel par- 
able to-day ; the birds gather it up, or the travellers 
trample it under their feet. There are some 
characters so flippant that nothing can make them 
fixed or resolute, and whose lively imagination 
runs from one object to another, touching lightly on 
everything, without going to the bottom of any. 
They are enemies of all reflection and of all serious 
thought; meditation kills them. They are emo- 
tional and seek to satisfy their desires in silly ro- 
mances and sensational sheets. You may see them 
receive the most serious truths with a smile of in- 
difference, while they are suffused with tears at 
the recital of some romantic adventure. There 
can be nothing done with minds of this character. 
They come, indeed, at certain epochs during the 
year to hear God's word, but this is nothing seri- 
ous for them. For them it is a pastime, a matter 
of curiosity, a means of distraction, and this is all. 
Holy advice, inspirations of grace, remorse of con- 
science which alarms them, the remembrance of 



94 Sexagesima Sunday. 

a past which causes them to blush, the terror of 
the future, the distaste for the world, the ordinary 
effect of the Gospel words, fall on their frivolous 
minds ; but the different thoughts which pass and 
repass incessantly in them quickly efface even the 
least traces of the sacred word. They are the 
travelled and open highways ; there the demon finds 
easy access, and before it can germinate he takes 
away the precious seed which is sown. This is the 
first obstacle to the development of the word of 
God — dissipation of mind. 

Second Point, — *' Another part fell on the stony 
ground, and, after springing up, was parched, be- 
cause there was no moisture. " Two kinds of hearers 
are figured by this stony ground in which the good 
seed cannot take root. The first and the most 
pitiable are those who are voluntarily deaf; their 
hearts are hardened and have become as stone with 
regard to the word of God. We could scarcely 
believe it, if there was not the saddest experience 
to convince us. There are men who are determined 
to remain just as they are. They come to hear the 
word of God spoken with a fixed resolution of not 
profiting by it. Let them hear the most touching ex- 
hortations, let the most terrible truths be presented 
to them, even if the grace of a retreat or a mis- 
sion is offered them, it is all useless. They hear 
nothing, they will profit by nothing; they are the 
minds of that character which the prophet indig- 
nantly depicts when he exclaims : '' They have 
closed their ears, lest they should hear." What 



TJie Word of God, 95 

shall be the consequences of this studied and syste- 
matic resistance to the truth which is spoken ex- 
teriorly, and to the grace which urges and solicits 
interiorly? The very thought makes the heart 
grow cold. Our blessed Saviour exclaims: ''Woe 
to you, Jerusalem, because if Tyre and Sidon had 
received the same graces as you have, they would 
have done penance in sackcloth and ashes. They 
shall be treated with less rigor than you." Yes, 
on the judgment day the infidel shall find an excuse 
in the misfortune of his birth, the heretic shall find 
an excuse in his ignorance, but you, reared in the 
bosom of the true Church, you, enlightened by so 
many lights and surrounded by so many graces, 
what excuse shall you have? 

The second kind of hearers figured by the stony 
ground on which the precious seed falls is com- 
posed of all those Christians in whom certain pas- 
sions have reached a state of habit. These form an 
almost insurmountable obstacle to the effects of the 
divine word. They hear it with pleasure, they ad- 
mit the truth of all the reproaches hurled against 
them, and they would wish to be converted. Far 
from flying from the truth, they seek it. Should the 
preacher speak of the divine mercies, their hearts 
are touched; they make splendid promises. Cast- 
ing a glance on the disorders of their past life, their 
eyes are bathed in tears; but scarcely have they left 
the house of God than everything is forgotten. 
The old habits weigh them dowm, they succumb to 
the first flame of passion, the good germ is parched; 



g6 Sexagesima Sunday, 

the root is necessary if the good seed would de- 
velop. The second obstacle to the development of 
the word of God is a depraved will. 

Third Point. — The third obstacle to the effect of 
the sacred word comes from attachment to the 
things of the world, whatever may be the name by 
which you designate them. They are represented 
by the thorns in which the good seed falls. It 
grows there, it is true ; the germ is developed, but 
it is stifled at its birth by the thorns which cover 
and clog the soil. This is the too common effect 
of pleasures and riches. Whoever possesses them 
finds much difficulty in extricating his heart from 
them, and the heart which is charmed by them 
affords very little access to the truths of salvation. 
It is true that the riches and pleasures of life are 
not criminal things in themselves, but the abuse 
which we make of them, and the affection we have 
for them, soon render them criminal. 

Our divine Saviour compares the pleasures of the 
world to thorns, because they produce the same 
effect. If at first they spread on our pathway 
some agreeable flowers, soon they will embarrass 
us. Then they will make us feel their sharpened 
points, and in time they will wound us. See that 
young man, or that young woman, who has heard 
the divine word with docility and who has profited 
by it, who carefully cultivates the virtues which 
grace has germinated in her heart, but who, at 
the same time, cherishes a love for the world ; be- 
cause this love, which is moderate in the beginning. 



TJie Word of God. 97 

does not lead them into grave faults they imagine 
their virtue has received no wound; they think 
that in spite of the words of Christ they can serve 
two masters, and can continue to love the world 
without ceasing to love God. Fatal error; profane 
attachments grow and are strengthened, and in 
the same proportion religious inclinations are 
diminished and weakened. 

The evil is so great that it is not perceived. 
There is surely an increase on the one hand, and a 
decrease on the other. Because the same pious 
practices are continued, do we believe the same 
virtues are also continued? The exterior acts are 
the same, but the heart is already changed. After 
having lost the taste for pious exercises, there is no 
delay in losing the use of them also. We easily 
omit what has been done without inclination and 
by constraint; moreover, we are skilful to find pre- 
texts for shortening certain practices and omitting 
others; this remissness insensibly leads to sloth, 
and the interval from sloth to sin is very short. See 
how worldly attachments lead us, little by little, 
when they are not early uprooted. 

O my God, to what can I attribute the little fruit 
I have hitherto drawn from so many instructions, 
unless to my bad dispositions? Have pity on me, 
Lord ; change my heart. Give me a new one, in 
which Thy word shall remain, take root, and pro- 
duce those fruits of salvation which Thou hast a 
right to expect from me. 
7 



QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 

SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS. 

^HE blind man of Jericho, whose healing is re- 
counted in the Gospel of this day, is the image 
... of a sonl which has fallen into spiritual blind- 
ness. Consider well the characters and the rem- 
edies of this moral blindness, which is the saddest 
of all. 

First Point, — The characters of spiritual blind- 
ness. As Jesus approached Jericho He met a blind 
man seated on the wayside and asking alms. To 
understand this species of blindness which falls 
upon sinners you have only to look about you. 
Have you not been sometimes terrified at the in- 
sensibility of certain men for their eternal interests? 
Religion, which has converted the world by the 
sublimity of its teachings, is for them only a mass 
of gross reveries. Morality, which has brought on 
earth the reign of virtue, is in their eyes only fanat- 
icism or superstition. The most heroic examples 
of virtue, instead of exciting in them a sentiment 
of admiration, only provoke pity and contempt. 
The most touching exhortations awaken their cu- 
riosity without appealing to their mind or heart. 
They commit crime after crime, violate the most 
sacred engagements, revel in blasphemy, and re- 



spiritual Blindfiess, 99 

main perfectly tranquil. Duties which every reas- 
onable being owes to his Creator are put aside; 
laws of the Church, to which every Christian should 
be submissive, are trampled underfoot; they pub- 
lish scandals and what is baneful to religion, and 
still believe themselves irreproachable, and ask 
what evil have they done. They live without re- 
morse, and die undisturbed and fall into the aveng- 
ing hands of God, whom they have despised. Can 
there be a state more fearful than this in the eyes 
of reason and in the eyes of faith ? 

The blind man of Jericho, to sustain his sad ex- 
istence, asked of those who passed by an alms, 
which was often refused him. The Gospel says he 
was begging — mendicaiis. This is the second char- 
acter of spiritual blindness. In the bosom of the 
Catholic Church, the depository of eternal truths, in 
the midst of that light with which Christianity has 
inundated the world, in the midst of so many means 
to find repose of mind and peace of heart, they who 
are stricken become mendicants. They ask of 
reason light which they have not ; they ask of hu- 
man wisdom the truth which she cannot give ; they 
ask of pleasure joys of which she is ignorant. In 
their need of joys, their famished souls extend 
their hands to the passions and to pleasures. Each 
passion and each pleasure deposits an alms, but it is 
only an alms; it may suffice to solace, or rather to 
distract, the heart for a moment, but it is powerless 
to satisfy the need which devours it; it remains 
hungry and is always begging — mendicans. 



loo Qinnqiiagesima Sunday. 

The blind man of Jericho was seated on the way- 
side. This is the last trait which characterizes 
those who are spiritually blind. They are near the 
way which conducts to truth, to virtue, to life, and 
still they do not wish to enter there. Reflect on 
this expression, which contains a truth at once pro- 
found and true — "He was sitting.'* It is not said 
that he was standing and ready to walk, but he was 
seated ; he remained there in stupid repose, unmind- 
ful of what was passing around him. This expres- 
sion is sufficient to make us understand that he was 
satisfied in his unfortunate carelessness, preferring 
an unworthy, repose to generous effort which would 
place him in the right way. This is only a too true 
picture of those sinners of w^hom we are speaking. 
They are outside the way which conducts to salva- 
tion, and are not striving to re-enter it. To do this 
they should be most active, and instructed in their 
duties, and resist their passions, or at least make 
some efforts; but they love their ease beyond any- 
thing else, and nothing can determine them to 
abandon their tranquillity. And thus the privation 
of all truth, the want of all good works, and com- 
plete carelessness of salvation are the characters of 
this terrible malady which is called spiritual blind- 
ness. We shall now see how it may be healed. 

Second Point, — For a complete cure of spiritual 
blindness, the first thing which must be done by 
him who is afflicted is to be instructed in his re- 
ligion and to make known his uncertainties and 
doubts to those who can resolve them. At the 



spiritual Blindness. loi 

sound of the voices which were about him and the 
noise made by the multitude which had followed 
Jesus, the blind man informed himself of all that 
passed. He asked "what it was." Well, Chris- 
tianity passes near us, is about us on every side, 
with its laws, its dogmas, its blessings, its threats, 
and its promises. We should inform ourselves 
what it is, we should study the claims and proofs on 
which it rests, the duties it imposes, and labor 
earnestly to merit the blessings which it promises. 
We should avoid the evils with which it threatens 
us, since eternity is well worth the trouble which 
all this requires. Indifference in this matter is 
wholly unjustifiable. 

The second thing to do in a case of spiritual 
blindness is to pray. Faith is a gift of God, and this 
gift we all receive in Baptism. This explains the 
facility with which we believe the highest mysteries, 
even in tenderest infancy, and as long as we pre- 
serve purity of heart. But when, by bad books, 
sinful conversations, voluntary doubts, and by in- 
dulgence of our passions we have driven the spirit 
of faith from our intelligence, we cannot again re- 
call it, except by most fervent prayer. But you say, 
*' I wish I could have faith!" Have you prayed to 
obtain it? Reflect on the prayer of the blind man 
imploring his healing, and strive to imitate his 
fervor. ''Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!" 
See how he feels his malady, how he desires a re- 
turn of health. And what perseverance in his 
prayer! They who are near to him endeavor to 



I02 Quinquagesima Sunday, 

impose silence on him, but he seems unmindful of 
them and is not at all influenced by their words ; he 
even cries louder still. From the moment you wish 
to belong to God the world will blame you. Preju- 
dices, habits, passions shall strive to turn you away 
from prayer. However, still remain faithful to it, 
since your healing and your salvation will be due 
to your perseverance. 

O my God, I address Thee with the prayer which 
the poor blind man employed — " Son of David, have 
pity on me!" Have pity, because of the sad state 
to which sin has reduced me. Make known to me 
my misfortune in its fullest extent ; I do not know it 
sufficiently. Place in my heart a lively and pro- 
found sorrow for my sins, which should be there 
and which I do not find there. Inspire me with 
those strong, courageous, and efficacious resolutions 
which I strive in vain to form. Break these crim- 
inal attachments and these vicious habits which I 
have not the strength to break. Reform my sad 
inclinations which drag me down in spite of my 
feeble efforts. Have pity on me, Lord ! Have pity 
on my weakness ! 



ASH WEDNESDAY. 

PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

npHE most important and the most necessary lesson 
which can be given to men is to remind them 
. . . that they are only dust and that they shall 
return to dust. It is the most important lesson, 
since on death depends their eternity; it is the 
most necessary lesson, because the thought of death 
is the thought which men reject with greatest care. 
Enter to-day into the spirit of the Church, and 
strive to procure for yourself a Christian death by 
preparing yourself for it seriously. 

First Point, — The exercise of the preparation for 
death consists in being persuaded of death. It is 
difficult for one to prepare for something of which 
he is not yet convinced. Now there is nothing, or 
almost nothing, of which we are less persuaded than 
death. Indeed, we well know, in general, that we 
shall one day die ; but we assure ourselves with the 
hope that it shall not be soon, that it shall not be in 
this sickness, that it shall not be to-day or to- 
morrow. However, what disposes us for a good 
death is not merely to know, in speculation, that we 
must die, but to be actually seized by this thought: 
I shall die and my hour approaches, I shall die, 



I04 Ask Wednesday. 

and it shall be in some one of these years that I 
vainly promise myself ; I shall die, and it shall be 
at the moment and in the manner that I had least 
suspected. 

But what does the enemy of our salvation do? 
He does not strive to persuade us that we shall not 
die, but he persuades us that we shall not die, neither 
this week, nor this month, nor this year. It seems 
that we are even of the same mind as he is on that 
matter, for not only are we never well persuaded of 
death in the sense of which we have just spoken, 
but we do not wish to be, and we put away all 
thoughts from us that would serve to convince us 
of it. Hence it follows that, for the most part, men 
die without believing they are dying, and almost 
always with the presumptuous assurance of not 
dying. Hence it follows that these very men, to 
whom constantly and visibly, in the age and in the 
state in which they are, there remain fewer days to 
live, are those who labor most for life ; hence it fol- 
lows that the dying ones never know whether they 
are dying or not, because it is expected that they do 
not wish to know it and every one conspires to de- 
ceive them. Be on your guard against this danger, 
alas! so common, by making yourself familiar with 
the thought of death; and because it is the fear 
of death that makes the thought of it so pain- 
ful, strengthen yourself against the fear of death 
by the motives of Christian hope and the holy 
ardor of divine charity. Saj^ to yourself often: 
"Behold the Spouse comes. Let us go, my soul.*' 



Preparation for Death. 105 

He comes, not to condemn you, but to crown you; 
expect him with confidence. 

Second Point. — The second exercise of the prepa- 
ration for death is vigilance against death. All 
uncertain as death is, I can act in such a manner 
that it will never surprise me. And how? By 
watching over myself. It is that which made the 
difference between the wise and foolish virgins. 
Here adore the providence of our God, who con- 
ceals from us the hour and the place and the manner 
of our death, to oblige us to be always on our guard 
and to sanctify all our life. To bq for one moment 
without this Christian vigilance is to act against 
all the principles of wisdom, because an entire 
eternity is comprised in a single moment. 

We fear death, but let this fear serve us as a de- 
fence against death itself. We do not wait to equip 
a vessel until it is on the high seas, tossed by 
tempest and waves. Let us guard against waiting 
to dispose ourselves for death until the moment 
when our senses shall be disturbed by the approach 
of death, and until we shall have lost their use. 
Jesus does not tell us to prepare ourselves then, but 
"to be ready.*' Let us hold ourselves ready and 
always prepared. And why is the practice of this 
vigilance so necessary ? To keep ourselves always 
in the state we should wish to die ; at least, never 
to be in a state in which we should fear to die. 
According to this rule, if we were asked, " Are you 
ready?'* what answer should we give? To do all 
our actions in view of death ; that is to sa)^ to act 



io6 Ash Wednesday, 

in all things as we would wish to have done, at 
death. To know ourself well is to know our obli- 
gations, all the good which we should practise, all 
the evil we should avoid ; to know the dangers 
which surround us and the means to preserve our- 
selves from them. To have for this examination, 
which is so important, a time marked in the year, in 
the month, in the week; to form these resolutions, 
to rule life after this study ; to weep for the past, 
and to assure the future and constantly take new 
courage — thus it is that our fear shall be the be- 
ginning of wisdom, because it shall serve to excite 
our vigilance. 

Third Point, — The third exercise of the prepara- 
tion for death is the practical science of death. 
There is an apprenticeship to death, and we can 
from life learn to die well, and for that we have 
only to study what passes within us and about us. 
We die every day. No, it is not true, in the sense 
that we die but once. We die every hour, and in 
every hour we can die voluntarily and freely. 
When God declared to the first man that he should 
die as soon as he had disobeyed, the decree was 
executed in Adam at the moment he had violated 
the precept of the Lord. At once he became sub- 
ject to all kinds of infirmities, and his body, de- 
graded from the privilege of innocence, began to 
decay and consequently to die. Now, what took 
place for Adam has taken place for us also, and 
the pagans themselves recognized it. We deceive 
ourselves, said Seneca, in looking upon death as a 



Preparation for Death. 107 

future thing; already, in great part, it has passed 
for us; and all that is past of our life, up to the 
present, belongs to death. Did not St. Paul say 
"he died daily"? If, then, we die every day, is it a 
difficult thing to learn to die? And since at every 
moment we die by necessity, what hinders us from 
accustoming ourselves to die by choice and will? 

All the creatures which surround us teach us 
the science of death. And how? By leaving us, 
by separating from us, by ceasing to belong to us. 
We have only to interrogate ourselves, and all that 
there is in us shall tell us with unanimous voice 
that we must die. You are rich and in opu- 
lence, but you must die. You have credit and 
reputation, but you must die. You are young and 
in a position to taste the delights of the world, but 
you must die. This is the only language we hear, 
because God, in creating us, has engraved in the 
depth of our being this general response, that all 
the elements of which we are composed, by de- 
stroying one another, destroy us with them. Since 
everything concurs in teaching us to die, we are 
then very guilty in not being better acquainted and 
more experienced in the art of death. 

O my God, purify my soul, detach my heart, in 
order that, being free from every bond, and living 
only for Thee, I may be ready to quit this earth at 
the first command that Thou shalt give me ! 



FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT. 

• THE INSTITUTION OF THE LENTEN TIME. 

n^HE Church has had two principal reasons in in- 
stituting the holy time of Lent : to make us 
. . . fulfil the duty of penance, and to make us 
meditate on the sufferings of Christ. 

First Point, — The first motive which seems to have 
influenced the Church in the institution of Lent has 
been to afford us an opportunity of fulfilling the law 
of penance. We cannot forget that there is a law 
which obliges all the children of Adam to do pen- 
ance. This law has been proclaimed at the mo- 
ment of the fall, and was again proclaimed by the 
Gospel, and at the time of our regeneration. This 
law is binding on us as men; since we are heirs to 
the sin of Adam, we are also heirs to the sentence 
which has condemned him to suffer. 

This law is binding on us, also, as Christians, since 
it is only by fulfilling it we become like to our Model 
and Master. A great expiation has been consum- 
mated on Golgotha! Christians, children of the 
cross, fruits conceived amidst the heartrendings 
and agonies of Calvary ; disciples of a God dead on 
the cross ; sons of the King — but of a King crowned 
by sorrow; born to the purple — but the purple of 
His blood, — our life should not belie our origin! 



Tlie Institution of the Lenten Time. 109 

The sacrifice of the Saviour has been complete in all 
that regards the person and the merits of the Victim ; 
but this sacrifice should continue in His members, 
who with Him form but one and the same mystical 
body. His cross remains forever planted in the 
midst of His Church, to recall to us the obligation 
of attaching ourselves to it and of dying on it with 
Him ; and there shall be something wanting to His 
passion, as St. Paul has understood it, if it is not 
accomplished, also, in our own body; if the blood 
of Jesus does not continue, in some way, to flow in 
the veins of His apostles and martyrs and confes- 
sors, and in all those who believe in Him, until the 
time when the whole Church shall have passed from 
the state of suffering and of combat to the posses- 
sion of glory. 

The law of penance is binding on us especially as 
sinners. Let us recall to mind all the transgres- 
sions which make us debtors to Divine Justice — and 
insolvent debtors, too, without any doubt, if God 
had not deigned to accept our feeble satisfactions 
in consideration of the superabundant merits of His 
Son. At this remembrance, does not your con- 
science tell you the necessity of chastising a rebel- 
lious flesh which has been so often the occasion and 
the instrument of your falls? Now, this penance, 
whose, indispensable necessity you cannot forget, 
whether to make you '' conformable to the image of 
the Son" or to expiate your countless prevarications, 
— do you do it? Alas! — you must admit it — your 
time is always ready, as the Saviour reproached 



no First Sunday of Lent. 

the Jews: I mean the time for your business, your 
pleasures, the time for sin ; but the time of Jesus, 
the time of penance, is never ready or at hand. 
You put it off, and defer it, and expect every day 
that the time shall come ; but the time never comes. 
Now, the Church comes to assist us in our weakness 
and in our cowardice. She strongly reminds you 
of this precept of penance, which your indifference 
neglects. From all the pulpits which are erected 
in the innumerable churches of the Catholic world 
the resounding voice is heard in unmistakable 
terms: ''Unless you do penance you shall perish." 

And, not content with reminding you of this 
great precept, the Church anticipates your inde- 
cision by determining the time when this duty 
will bind with greater rigor, and by indicating the 
most suitable manner of penance ; thus, by a happy 
violence, she forces you, so to speak, to enter the 
way of penance by adding to the authority of God 
her own authority. In fine, that you may not es- 
cape the pursuit of Divine Justice, she, in a way, 
encloses you in a circle of forty days, and she will 
not allow you to depart until you shall have given 
these sacred duties a just satisfaction. Do you love 
your soul enough to understand and second the 
merciful intentions of the Church in your regard? 

Second Point. — By instituting the Lenten time the 
Church wishes to make us meditate on the sufferings 
of Our Saviour. The mortification of the senses is 
not sufficient for salvation — it must be accompanied 
by compunction of heart. Now, what is more ca- 



Tlic Institution of the Lenten Time. 1 1 1 

pable of exciting compunction in ns than the medi- 
tation of a mystery as tender as it is terrible — the 
mystery of our redemption? Unquestionably we 
can obtain this compunction of heart by other con- 
siderations, drawn from the grandeur of God, or 
His justice, or the heinousness of sin ; but the true 
source of tears — tears which flow from the heart as 
well as from the eyes ; those tears which are sweet 
in their bitterness; which have the power to purify 
the soul, to strengthen it, to transform it, to create 
in it the new man, — the true source of such tears is 
in the cross; in the cross which illumines all the 
divine perfections, but in a manner so well arranged 
that His goodness dominates and absorbs all the 
other perfections, and all the rays of this grand 
glory melt away and are effaced in the single ray of 
love. 

The cross is by excellence the Christianas book. 
Every one may read it. There, in characters visible 
to every eye and accessible to every intelligence, 
you may learn what is most important for every 
Christian to know. Behold why the Church unfolds 
its blood-stained pages during the holy exercises 
of Lent! Not only does she wish that we should 
recall the grand mystery of our redemption, but she 
also renders it in a way present and sensible by 
the vivacity and truth of her pictures, as an action 
which had parsed under our very eyes. She 
sprinkles her children with ashes, she exchanges 
her vestments of joy which were worn on festival 
occasions, and assumes others of a sombre hue ; she 



112 First Sunday of Lent. 

sings, it is true, but her chants are from a voice 
broken with sobs and tears ; she seems to fear the 
solitude, for her children are in such great sorrow ; 
She invites them frequently to assemble in commu- 
nity for prayer, for the sacrifice of the Mass, and for 
pious reunions. We could say of her children that 
they are like a family bowed by sorrow, whose mem- 
bers have united to " weep for the loss of an only and 
well-beloved son/' As the end approaches, the 
representation becomes more striking, and the im- 
pression of the death of the Man-God is more vividly 
felt. The very silence of His tomb seems to reign 
in the temple during the last days of the great and 
Holy Week. The stripped altars and the open and 
empty tabernacles leave nothing to behold except 
the cross unveiled — the cross which the Church only 
adores and only salutes in plaintive chants as our 
one, last, and only hope. 

Allow your heart to go out to, and be touched by, 
these holy impressions if you wish to respond to the 
intentions of the Church. Let your faith lead you 
to assist at each of these terrible scenes of which 
the drama of redemption is composed ; gather with 
love the drops of bloody sweat falling from Jesus 
in the Garden of Olives ; place your lips on each im- 
print of that precious blood which has reddened the 
road to Calvary ; also to each of those sacred wounds 
from which spring the running waters of life eternal. 
Accompany by your sighs and tears, and with the 
daughters of Jerusalem, this new Isaac up to the 
hill-top of Calvary, and do not descend from the 



The Institution of the Lenten Time. 113 

holy mountain where the greatest of sacrifices has 

been accomplished until you have struck your breast 

with the centurion ; or, rather, do not quit the holy 

mountain, but remain there, crucified with Jesus; 

nail to the cross, not your feet and hands, but your 

sins and defects and desires, for which the Saviour 

has died ; it shall be in vain that He died for your 

sins if you also do not die to them, to arise with 

Him to a new life, 
8 



SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT. 

DOCILITY IN FOLLOWING THE VOICE OF JESUS. 

" A ^^ ^^' ^ voice out of the cloud saying: This is 
My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; 
. . . hear ye Him." It is God Himself who com- 
mands us to hear Jesus and obey Him. Be then 
attentive to this salutary voice, and consider in how 
many ways He makes Himself heard. 

First Point. — ^ Jesus makes us hear His voice by 
the decisions of the Church, to whom He has con- 
fided, with His teaching, the prerogative of His 
infallibility. He has promised to be with her even 
to the end of time, assuring her that " the gates of 
hell shall not prevail against her." They would 
prevail if error could creep into her teachings. 
Long before. He had said : " He who hears you, hears 
Me ; he that despises you, despises Me, and in Me 
he despises Him who sent Me." It was to the 
apostles, and, in their person, to all their successors, 
that Jesus addressed these words. They evidently 
prove that the duty of all the faithful is to hear the 
Church and to obey her. You should therefore 
believe firmly the truths which she teaches, reject 
with indignation the errors she condemns, and re- 
ceive with docility the instructions which she pub- 



Docility in Following the Voice of Jesits. 115 

lishes, and practise with exactitude the precepts 
which she dictates. This submission which you 
owe to the Church imposes on you the obligation 
of rejecting every teaching which does not emanate 
from her, and to reject as deadly poison every 
doctrine which is not presented by her, and to care- 
fully put away whatever heresy insidiously dis- 
tributes as evangelical doctrine, as falsehood and 
error. Stop for a moment and consider in your own 
heart what respect you have shown to the pastors 
of the Church and to your fathers in the faith. In 
what terms do you speak of them? With what 
docility do you hear their teachings? 

Second Point, — Jesus also speaks to you most 
directly by the exhortations of His pastoral minis- 
try. But do you hear Him according to the pre- 
cept which God the Father has given you? Are 
you zealous to hear His salutary instructions? And 
when you assist at them what spirit do you bring 
to them? Is it a spirit of contention or of obedi- 
ence? What account must you one day render for 
so many means of salvation, either absolutely aban- 
doned by your negligence or made useless by your 
vicious dispositions? The divine word is tiresome 
for you, and you do not go to hear it; or it is a vain 
and frivolous amusement, and you receive no fruit 
from it. Either you do not hear God's voice or you 
hear it without proper dispositions ; and by your re- 
fusal to hear it, or by the abuse you make of it, you 
turn against yourself this precious blessing of God. 
Take, therefore, the serious resolution to change 



ii6 Second Sunday of Lent. 

this condition, which can only have for you the 
saddest effects. 

Third Point, — Jesus speaks to you also by the holy 
thoughts which He suggests to you. The natural 
horror which you feel for evil is His voice which 
prompts you to avoid it ; the remorse which disturbs 
your conscience is His voice which calls you to 
penance; the desire you experience to do some 
good work is His voice which encourages you to do 
it ; these pious promptings which move your soul 
are His voice which urges you to love Him. Hence 
the prophet exclaims : " I shall hear what the Lord 
shall deign to say within me!" You also should 
give ear, and listen attentively and continually to 
that voice with which He penetrates your heart. It 
is a sweet voice, and to hear it you must listen and 
with greatest recollection. Alas! how this want of 
recollection has been the occasion of losing so many 
salutary inspirations ! How often has God spoken 
to you, now by suggesting a good work, and again 
by turning you away from a bad one ; here recall- 
ing to your mind the precepts of His law, there by 
holding out to you threats or promises; while you, 
carried away by your dissipation, have not heard 
Him? You have despised His gifts, ignored His 
graces, been deaf to His entreaties, and you have 
been punished by the loss of His blessings which 
He offered you. 

Fourth Point. — Jesus employs another language 
more sensible than the preceding, and it is still less 
heard: it is the language of circumstances. All 



Docility in Following the Voice of fesits. 117 

the events which pass under our eyes are so many 
instructions which God gives us. When He hurls 
His thunders on empires, and overthrows them by 
revolutions, He reveals to us the instability of all 
things human ; when He casts down from highest 
power those whom He had exalted, He teaches us 
the nothingness of earth's greatness; when He 
strikes down and suddenly removes from earth the 
victims of His justice, he warns us of the certainty 
of death and the uncertainty of the hour in which 
it shall come to us. Examples of virtue teach us 
what we should do, while examples of vice tell us 
what we should avoid. By prosperity He invites 
us to return thanks, by adversity He engages us to 
return to Him. To meet with a poor person is an 
exhortation to almsgiving ; the sight of a church is 
an invitation to prayer, and a single glance at the 
cross is enough to recall every memory of the Pas- 
sion. In the privacy of our homes as well as in 
the public places, in the silence of solitude as well 
as in the dissipation of society, Jesus speaks to us 
everywhere. To-day, in the Gospel, the heavenly 
Father tells us to hear Him. But, oh, how sense- 
less we are! During life, we are surrounded by 
His teachings and do not heed them. We walk 
through life contrary to His warnings, His exhor- 
tations, or His entreaties, without reflecting on 
them or appreciating them. Circumstances strike 
us, but they do not instruct us. We speak of them, 
reason about them, and seek their causes, but never 
calculate their effects. The only thing we do not 



ii8 Second Sunday of Lent, 

see in them is what would be most useful for ns to 
see, viz., that God has permitted them for our in- 
struction, and to exhort us and to move our hearts. 
Strive, therefore, to recognize the voice of Jesus 
whenever He speaks to you. Your sanctification 
depends on your docility, and, as a consequence, 
your eternal salvation. 



THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT. 

JESUS EXPELS THE DUMB DEVIL. 

^HIS sick man, whom the devil rendered dumb, 
is the figure of spiritual dumbness, a malady 
... of the soul as dangerous as it is common. 
Speech has been given us to pray, to confess our 
sins, and to glorify God. Let us reflect how this 
spiritual dumbness hinders us from fulfilling this 
threefold duty. 

First Point, — The dumb devil hinders us from 
praying. Prayer is the weapon which religion puts 
in the hands of the Christian to make him triumph 
over every obstacle. The effects of prayer are truly 
admirable. It is omnipotent over the heart of 
God, and causes the thunder to fall from His aveng- 
ing hand ; it also opens the treasury of His mercies. 
Prayer is the help of our pilgrimage here on earth 
and gives us the strength to fulfil all our duties, 
consoles us in the trials of life, and obtains for us 
the most complete success in all our enterprises. 
Prayer is the nourishment of our Christian life, and 
is to the soul w^hat food is for the body. Hence the 
prophet David exclaims : " My heart is dried up and 
my soul is languishing because I have refused the 
bread of prayer.*' 

Well does the demon know that our sanctification 



I20 Third Sunday of Lent, 

depends on our fidelity to prayer, and hence the 
first object of his efforts is to cause us to neglect it. 
And then what happens? Alas! you know it, per- 
haps, by your own experience. At the time when 
a young man enters society, when the passions are 
developed with violence, when dangers become most 
numerous, he experiences an almost insurmount- 
able distaste for prayer. Hitherto prayer was easy 
for him, the holy exercises of piety were for him 
full of sweetness. But on the day of trial every- 
thing is changed, and he must do violence to him- 
self if he would pour out his soul in prayer. The 
more one yields to this distaste, the greater it be- 
comes ; and, in losing her conversation with God, 
the soul has lost every energy for good. 

But how does this change come? We may desig- 
nate several causes. First, there are the passions. 
By this, we do not mean precisely those violent dis- 
turbances which cast the soul down to the deepest 
depths, but we mean every sentiment which habit- 
ually dissipates the mind and disturbs the heart — a 
too lively preoccupation for even the most legiti- 
mate interests, for study, for our future ; too sensi- 
ble attachments, which win the hearts of creatures 
and draw them away from God. The habit of 
worldly pleasures begets those tastes which are 
wholly mundane, and which quickly take the place 
of things which belong to God. Romantic readings 
give birth to frivolous thoughts. They excite the 
imagination and flatter bad passions. When the 
soul does not strive to resist these siren voices, she 



Jesus Expels the Dumb Devil. 121 

becomes their slave. She strives in vain to be recol- 
lected with God. Like to a restive horse which re- 
fuses to be directed except in his ordinary ways, so 
the imagination, accustomed to run with a free rein, 
objects to thoughts which are not familiar to her. 
If, therefore, you wish to preserve a spirit of prayer, 
which is indispensable to a Christian life, then keep 
the thought of God in your heart by frequently 
turning to Him ; exercise the greatCvSt vigilance in 
avoiding flights of imagination ; and faithfully re- 
sist whatsoever may degenerate your mind and 
heart. Have you done this hitherto, and are you 
resolved to do so henceforth? 

Second Point, — The second duty of a Christian is 
to confess his sins. After prayer, there is nothing 
more important to sustain Christian life than fre- 
quent confession. There it is that the soul finds 
strength by virtue of the sacrament; there she 
finds encouragement in the advice of the confes- 
sor ; and there she finds light in the examination of 
conscience. The very thought that you must con- 
fess is a powerful motive to avoid sin, and hence 
the efforts of the demon and his artifices to hinder 
you from this salutary duty. Strange coincidence ! 
The repugnance for confession is felt at the same 
moment as the distaste for prayer. As long as the 
heart is pure and free from all affection to sin, 
confession is a sweet and easy duty ; we cheerfully 
and fathfully respond to the voice of our confessor. 
As soon as we are guilty, we experience the con- 
trary disposition. And so we are tempted to aban- 



122 Third Sunday of Lent, 

don confession, and, in fact, we abandon it precisely 
at the moment when it is most necessary. 

The ruses which the demon employs to hinder us 
from this powerful means of perseverance are 
numerous. He presents so many difficulties in the 
way of perseverance ! He presents piety under 
such severe views ! He so terrifies us b)^ the com- 
bats we must endure, the victories we must win, 
that we lay down our arms and with tears exclaim, 
I cannot be saved ! We forget that if the human 
heart can do nothing by itself, it is omnipotent 
when sustained by God's grace. Ah, it is only too 
true that by ourselves we cannot remain virtuous. 
Why then do we rely on ourselves? We should 
pray with more fervor and confess our sins more 
frequently. 

Confession is neglected because of the shame at- 
tached to the avowal of sins. It is, indeed, shame- 
ful to do that which is culpable, but it is a brave 
and truly great soul that can confess its guilt. It 
is related that one day while Socrates was walking 
in one of. the streets of Athens, he noticed one of 
his disciples departing from a house of question- 
able character. The disciple, confused at having 
been seen by his teacher, endeavored to conceal 
himself. But the philosopher approached him and 
said : '' You should have been ashamed to enter that 
place, instead of being ashamed to leave it." More- 
over, shame is an expiation of sin ; if you refuse 
to blush at the feet of Jesus in the tribunal of 
penance, you must blush before Jesus who shall 



Jesus Expels the Dumb Devil. 123 

be your Judge, and in presence of the assembled 
universe. 

Third Point. — The third duty of the Christian is 
to defend the cause of God and his neighbors, when 
both have been injured. This is a rigorous duty, 
and one which is never neglected when there is a 
question of a father, a friend, or a benefactor. But 
God is more than all that for us. How then can we 
be wanting in our duty when there is question of 
His glory? Whence comes this silence which 
seems to authorize certain impious words ? Whence 
comes the cowardly smile to our lips on hearing 
indecent railleries against religion, its mysteries, 
its ceremonies, its ministers, pious persons, and 
even against pious practices ? Do we not see that 
by such conduct on our part, by this tacit approba- 
tion given to those who outrage our faith, we per- 
form an act of impiety, we authorize blasphemies, 
and 'embolden the blasphemers? When on His 
way to Calvary Jesus met a generous woman who, 
braving the soldiers and enemies of the Saviour, 
came to wipe away the blood and the dust which 
disfigured His august face. But, alas! every day 
the religion of Jesus is disfigured, outraged, covered 
with mire, and there is not one soul generous enough 
to take up its defence and avenge the outrage. 

If religion requires us to defend the cause of God, 
charity makes it a duty for us to defend our neigh- 
bor when his reputation is compromised. But even 
when human respect renders us dumb in the first 
case, a secret jealousy or a criminal curiosity ren- 



124 Third Sunday of Lent. 

ders us dumb in the second. Instead of closing 
our ears to falsehood, we provoke it, we listen to it 
with pleasure, and become responsible for all the 
evil that is spoken and for all the wrong which is 
done. 

O my God, make me understand the duties which 
the gift of speech imposes on me. May I never 
use it except for the sanctification of my soul, the 
edification of my neighbor, and to bless Thy holy 
name. 



FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT. 

ON PROVIDENCE. 

npHE goodness with which Jesus miiltiplies the 
bread, to meet the needs of the multitude that 
. . . followed Him, is the image of that universal 
providence with which God provides for His creat- 
ures. Let us meditate to-day on the certainty of 
that providence, and our duties towards it. 

First Point, — The certainty of providence. Prov- 
idence is that supreme wisdom of God which guides 
all events; that paternal attention by which He 
preserves the moral and physical order which He 
has established in the world from the first instant 
of creation. We cannot question it for a moment 
if we but reflect on what passes under our eyes 
every day. In fact, what do we see? We see an 
admirable spectacle, of which the prophet gives us 
a description in his sublime canticle: "Lord, my 
God, how magnificent are Thy works. Thou hast 
arranged and governed everything with admirable 
wisdom. The ocean surrounds the earth as one 
vast cincture ; it obeys Thy voice, and never over- 
flows the boundaries which Thou hast fixed for it. 
Thou hast opened in the valleys the most abundant 
fountains and springs, to which the animals of the 
field and the wild beasts of the forest come to slake 



126 Fourth Sunday of Lent. 

their thirst. Thou hast prepared trees on the moun- 
tain tops, in which the birds may build their nests, 
and in the crevices of the rocks Thou hast made 
dwelling-places, in which the hunted stag comes to 
deposit her young in safety. The lions that dwell 
in the deserts and the monsters that live in the 
deepest abysses ask of Thee their prey and Thou 
providest it for them. My Lord and my God, 
how great Thou art in all Thy works. Thou hast 
disposed and governed all things with admirable 
wisdom." 

These are the words of a prophet, but hear the 
same idea from another tongue. If God has created. 
He has done it through love, and, moreover, He is 
full of sweetest providence for every being which 
has come from His creative hand. Has He not 
cared for the smallest flowers of the valley, and for 
the sparrows which ask Him for food? Is it not He 
who clothes the sheep in their woolly fleece? Not 
a hair from your head falls to the ground that does 
not engage His attention. He cares for the flowers 
and the animals; and there is not a little insect 
buzzing in the atmosphere which is not the object 
of His divine attention. If this little worthless 
being has blood and veins, it is God who has formed 
it ; if it finds on its way something to eat and to 
drink, it is God who prepares for it a bed and a 
table. What a loving providence! 

The words of Jesus established the certainty of 
providence in the most formal manner. He says: 
" Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, 



On Providence. 127 

nor do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your 
heavenly Father feedeth them. . . . Consider also 
the lilies of the field, how they grow; they labor 
not, neither do they spin. But I say to you that 
not even Solomon, in all his glory, was arrayed 
as one of these." If then, your Father who is in 
heaven takes so much care of a fragile flower, and 
feeds the birds, what care shall He not take of you, 
who are His children and who are of greater value 
to Him than all the animals of the earth? And 
He adds : '' Be not solicitous for what you shall eat, 
or wherewith you shall be clothed. Your heavenly 
Father knows you have need of all these things." 
These words from the lips of the Saviour should 
suffice to calm all inquietude. 

Besides these words and promises, which attest 
the providence of God there are facts which also 
give us fullest testimony. The brethren of Joseph 
wished to oppose the designs of Providence, and 
everything they did against him served only to 
favor his exaltation. The same Providence which 
had saved Moses from the waters of the Nile makes 
him become the liberator of his people. The same 
Providence which delivered the Chosen People of 
God from the Egyptians, and which conducted 
and miraculously nourished them in the desert, led 
them to the Promised Land and performed for them 
a thousand prodigies. This same Providence it 
was that protected the chaste Susanna, Daniel in 
the lion's den, the young Hebrews in the fiery fur- 
nace, and countless others who are spoken of in the 



128 Fourth Sunday of Lent, 

history of the Church. It is, then, demonstrated 
by the words of Holy Scripture and by the testi- 
mony of history that there is a Providence. 

Second Point, — Our duties towards Providence. 
The first duty is to submit ourselves to its decrees. 
God has a dominion which is absolute and universal 
over all His creatures ; He is our Master, and we 
are His servants ; He is our King, we are His sub- 
jects; He is our Father, we are His children; it is 
therefore just that we should obey Him. This 
obedience is not only most reasonable, but is most 
necessary. In fact. He is the Sovereign Master and 
there is "no one who can resist Him.'* And we 
must, therefore, accomplish His will in all things 
and always. Hence, whether we wish it or whether 
we do not wish it, it is certain that things happen 
as God has decreed in His supreme wisdom. If 
we understand how to submit ourselves with docility 
to the decrees of His providence, we fulfil our duty, 
and our submission shall have its recompense. But, 
should we revolt or murmur against His provi- 
dence, the will of God shall be accomplished and 
we shall suffer without merit and without consola- 
tion. 

St. Chrysostom compares those who murmur 
against divine Providence to the tempests on the 
ocean; we see the impetuous elements hurl the 
waves to heaven like so many mountains, but it is 
always useless. They are obliged to obey the 
voice of the Master, and they come to crush their 
pride against the grains of sand on the shores 



On Providence, 129 

which mark their limit. And so it is with those 
who seek to escape the laws of Providence; they 
strive in vain : the will of God must always be ac- 
complished. Understand these truths, and learn 
to be courageous in all the difficult circumstances 
of life ; submit yourselves generously to the will of 
God, and repeat in the depth of your heart these 
words which fell from divine lips : " May Thy will 
be done on earth, as it is in heaven/' 

We should abandon ourselves to Providence with 
a sweet confidence. God is our Father, and has all 
the tenderness of a father. And this is not enough ; 
He has for us all the tenderness of a mother. He 
tells us : *' Even if a mother should forget her 
child, I shall never forget you.'* What a sense of 
security these words should give us ! The eye of 
God watches over us, even as the eyes of a mother 
watch over her beloved child. Strive, therefore, 
to develop in your heart the sentiments which St. 
Francis de Sales expresses when he says : " Our 
Lord has taught me to confide in His providence 
from my youth, and, if I were to be born again, I 
would allow myself to be governed, even in the 
smallest matters, by this divine providence, with 
all the simplicity of a child and with a profound 
contempt for all human prudence." Indeed the 
designs of God are impenetrable, but they are 
always sweet and gentle to those who confide in 
Him. 

Therefore let us permit His providence to guide 
our soul, which is in His keeping, and it will surely 
9 



130 Fourth Sunday of Lent, 

land us in a haven of safety. Blessed is he who 
confidently trusts in His providence, since God can 
give and God wishes to give us every good and 
perfect gift. On the contrary, unhappy is he who 
places his trust in creatures. They promise every- 
thing but give little, and you must pay dearly for 
the little you receive. This is why we embark on 
the sea of divine Providence without food, without 
oars, without sails or any provision. Let us leave 
everything to the care of our divine Lord, without 
reserve of any kind : His goodness shall abundantly 
provide for everything. 



PASSION SUNDAY. 

THE TESTIMONY WHICH JESUS GIVES OF HIMSELF. 

'T^HE noble assurance with which Jesus defies His 
enemies to accuse Him of sin furnishes us an 
. . . occasion of meditating on the beautiful char- 
acter of the Saviour of men. You shall find in it 
one of the most striking proofs of His divinity. It 
shall be sufficient for us to propose these two ques- 
tions: Is Jesus, as He said, the Son of God? and, is 
His testimony true? 

First Point. — In order to escape from the crush- 
ing proof which follows from the testimony of Jesus 
in favor of His divinity, the infidels pretended that 
Jesus said He was, indeed, the envoy of God, but 
that He never affirmed that He was God. To 
demonstrate the falsity of this assertion, we have 
only to open the Holy Gospels. Jesus there gives 
testimony to His divinity at first in presence of 
His friends and disciples. One day, while speak- 
ing with them, He asked : '' Whom do men say that 
lam?" The disciples answered: "Some say that 
Thou art John the Baptist, others that Thou art Jere- 
mias, others that Thou art Elias, and others still 
that Thou art one of the prophets. " But Jesus again 
asked: "Whom do you think I am?" Then Peter 
answered : " Thou art Christ, the Son of the living 



132 Passion Sunday. 

God." Instead of reproving him or correcting 
Peter's statement as a blasphemy, Jesus replied to 
Peter: "Blessed art thou, Simon, son of John, be- 
cause flesh and blood have not revealed this to 
thee, but My Father who is in heaven." 

In another circumstance, Philip said to Jesus: 
" Lord, show us the Father and that will satisfy us." 
But Jesus, being indignant at this request, answers 
him: *'What! I am so long with you, and you 
have not known Me, Philip? He who sees Me, also 
sees the Father. How then can you say, show us 
the Father; do you not believe that I am in the 
Father and the Father is in Me?" On another oc- 
casion, always wishing still more to affirm His 
divine affiliation. He said to one of His disciples: 
'' God has so loved the world that He has sent His 
only Son, that he who believes in Him shall not be 
condemned, but he who does not believe in Him 
shall be condemned, because he does not believe in 
the name of the only Son of God." Jesus, there- 
fore, proclaimed Himself as the Son of God, and in 
the strictest sense He claimed that He was in the 
Father and that the Father was in Him ; and that 
to see Him was to see the Father. The testimony 
which Jesus gives of His divinity to His friends and 
to His disciples is evident. 

The testimony which He gives of Himself in 
presence of the people is no less evident and no 
less explicit. The multitudes which surrounded 
Him exclaimed : " How long shall you keep us in 
suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us clearly and 



Tcsthnony ivliicJi Jcsits Gives of Himself, 133 

openly/* Jesus answers them : '* I speak to you and 
you do not believe Me. The works which I have 
done give testimony of Me. My Father and I are 
one." At this statement, which told everything, 
the Jews gathered stones to throw at Him. And 
Jesus said to them : '* I have shown you the works 
of My Father; for which of these works do you cast 
stones at Me?" The Jews answered: "For none 
of Thy works, but because of Thy blasphemy; be- 
cause, being only a man, Thou hast made Thyself 
God." The language of Jesus before the people 
had the same signification as the language before 
the disciples: He clearly and unmistakably de- 
clared, " My Father and I are one." 

But Jesus is cited before the council of the an- 
cients, the priests and magistrates of Judea. After 
testimony more or less inconsistent, the high priest 
puts the question squarely ; he arises and addresses 
the accused this solemn adjuration : " I adjure you 
by the living God, to tell us, if you are the Christ, 
the Son of God." And Jesus answered him by 
these two words: "I am." And to confirm His 
avowal He immediately added: '' I am He, and you 
shall see the Son of man seated at the right hand 
of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of 
heaven." So that before His friends, before the 
people, and before the magistrates, Jesus proclaimed 
Himself the Son of God, the only Son, the Son equal 
to His Father, one with His Father, and being in 
His Father and His Father in Him. This is the 
testimony which Jesus gives of Himself. And 



134 Passion Sunday. 

what a testimony! Only to think! a man, a being 
of flesh and blood, who has before Him not only the 
weakness of life but the weakness of death, — a 
mere man, — and He dares to proclaim Himself a 
God! It is the first time in the history of the 
world that it has ever happened! It is evident 
that a mere man is not capable of such bold false- 
hood. 

Second Point, — But is the testimony which Jesus 
renders of Himself true? To doubt it, we must 
accept one of these two propositions : either Jesus 
did not believe what He said, or He believed it 
without being what He declared Himself to be. In 
the first supposition, He would be deceitful, since 
He proclaimed Himself for what He was not ; in 
the second supposition he would be insane, since, 
being only a man. He believed Himself a God. In 
both suppositions we are presented with an impos- 
sibility. 

It is impossible to make of Jesus a deceitful man. 
According to the avowal of all, even of those who 
do not believe in Him, Jesus is a good and wise man, 
a man of incomparable character. He has done so 
many wonderful things, such holy things, that even 
His very enemies always pay homage to His works 
and to His person. If the world has seen black and 
impious spirits who have dared to blaspheme 
against His innocence and to confound Him with 
seducers, they have been only some monsters whom 
the whole human race has held in horror, and whose 
names, too odious to every nature, have remained 



Testimony which Jestcs Gives of Himself, 135 

buried in the same darkness from which their im- 
piety came. In fact, what man had ever appeared 
with more incontestable characters of innocence 
and sanctity than Jesus the Son of the living God? 
In what man was ever observed so much love for 
virtue, so much sincere contempt for the world, so 
much charity for men, and such indifference for 
all human glory? Follow in detail His conduct 
and manners, and see if there has ever appeared on 
earth a just man more universally exempt from all 
the weaknesses which are inseparable from human- 
ity. The more you observe Him, the more His 
sanctity shines out luminously. His disciples, who 
watch Him closely, are struck by the innocence of 
His life; while familiarity, which is so dangerous 
even to heroic virtue, serves only to discover, every 
day, new wonders in Him. When He speaks it is 
only the language of heaven, and He responds 
only when His answers may be useful for the salva- 
tion of those who interrogate Him. We never see 
in Him some intervals when the man asserts him- 
self; but everywhere He appears as the envoy of 
the Most High. His most ordinary actions are ex- 
alted by the sublimity of the dispositions which ac- 
company them ; and never does He appear less a 
divine man than when He eats in the house of a 
Pharisee and when He calls Lazarus back from 
death to life. Jesus, therefore, is not and could 
not be a deceiver. 

But was He demented? This supposition is 
such an absurdity that it is revolting; and in 



136 Passion Sunday, 

presence of the sublimity of His doctrines, which 
have won the admiration of every age ; in presence 
of the purity of His moral teaching, which could 
not be equalled in the most beautiful pages that 
ever came from the hands of man ; in presence of 
that wisdom which marked all His works, which 
dictated all His responses, a wisdom which sancti- 
fied all His acts and confounded the perfidy of His 
enemies. No, Jesus was not demented. He was 
not guilty of a horrible falsehood. He said He 
was God, and therefore He is God. 

O my adorable Master, I love to recognize Thee 
as the Messias promised to Adam, as the Saviour of 
the world, and as the immortal King of ages. 
Thou art more than a great genius, more than 
Elias, more than a prophet, m.ore than a divine 
man. Thou art the Son of the living God! Do 
not permit that anything in the world should ever 
disturb my faith or take from me Thy love. 



PALM SUNDAY. 

THE CENACLE. 

pALM SUNDAY Opens the great week, or, as it is 
called by excellence, the Holy Week. It is so 
. . . called because it is in this week the grandest 
mysteries of our holy religion are accomplished. 
You cannot better enter into the spirit of the 
Church than by meditating each day on one of the 
circumstances of the Passion of our blessed Lord. 
To-day let us enter the cenacle and consider the 
different circumstances associated with the institu- 
tion of the most lovable and the most august of all 
the sacraments. 

The first circumstance which presents itself to 
your meditations is the strange command which 
Jesus gives to His apostles, viz., to prepare a room 
which shall be at once large and beautifully ap- 
pointed. In fact, it is a strange command, since it 
is the first time that the divine Master shows that 
He is particular in the choice of a place which He 
shall honor by His presence. For a palace, He 
chose a stable; for a cradle, He selected a manger; 
for a refuge of His infancy, He is content with the 
house of a poor artisan ; to offer His last sacrifice, 
a wooden cross sufficed. It is only now that He 
does not wish to appear poor. He wishes to sur- 



138 Pahn Sunday. 

round His eucharistic body with honors; and why? 
These surroundings are intended more for us than 
for Him. He wishes to give us a lesson. He 
teaches us that we cannot surround the Blessed Eu- 
charist with too much respect or magnificence. He 
justifies His Church from the reproach of too much 
pomp, which unthinking men would make against 
her, and who would wish to see her offer the holy 
sacrifice under a roof of straw and in vessels of 
wood and potter's clay, while they themselves walk 
on richest tapestry and eat and drink from gold and 
silver vessels. Ah, if gold and silver were ever 
legitimately employed, it is certainly when there is 
question of erecting a throne to the God of the Eu- 
charist and to heighten the splendor of its festivals. 

This has been the mind and conduct of all the 
saints, and of all who have with David loved the 
"beauty of God's house." They have all consid- 
ered it a duty and a joy to contribute to the orna- 
mentation of the place which He has chosen to 
make His dwelling among men. St. Cajetan 
wished that the churches and the altars should be 
decorated with all possible splendor, and, in spite of 
his love for poverty, he sought for the richest orna- 
ments, saying that nothing was too precious for the 
Lord of the world. Are these your sentiments? 

By this command Jesus warns us specially con- 
cerning the interior dispositions which we should 
bring to the reception of the Holy Eucharist. He 
asks that the room in which the institution of the 
Blessed Eucharist takes place should be grand and 



The Cenacle, 139 

vast and spacious. But that which constitutes the 
grandeur of the heart are the exalted sentiments 
and a complete detachment from earthly things. 
Our souls ascend or descend with the objects which 
preoccupy them. If the soul habitually loves and 
seeks after what is beneath her, the weight of these 
things compel her to descend. There is nothing 
so little or contracted as a soul whose intelligence 
revolves habitually in the narrow circle of purely 
material interests. The ideas are narrow, the 
tastes are low, and the mind is frivolous; grand and 
serious thoughts are too heavy for such a soul to 
carr5^ Do you wish to possess a grand and noble 
heart? Then banish from it every earthly affec- 
tion. Jesus can be but ill at ease in a heart which 
is also occupied by creatures. The throne of your 
heart is by far too beautiful to allow some earthly 
idol to possess it ; He only is worthy to occupy it 
who has formed it by His own hands, and then can 
enrich it by His grace from the treasury of His vir- 
tues. When approaching the holy table, offer to 
your King, Jesus, a heart void of all earthly affec- 
tion or whatever is purely human. 

If you would possess a truly great heart, let it 
be filled with a holy confidence. Confidence dilates 
the soul, unfolds all her faculties, and opens them 
to receive the dews of heavenly grace. It is pre- 
cisely to facilitate this unfolding of the soul when 
approaching the holy table, that Jesus veils there 
His majesty under the eucharistic species, and in- 
vites us in words that are full of tenderness : " Come, 



140 Palm Sunday, 

My well beloved, and eat the bread which I have 
prepared for you, and drink also of the wine; be 
inebriated by the delights of My table. Oh, with 
what ardor I have desired to eat of this pasch with 
you!" How then can you be wanting in confidence 
when Jesus calls you to Him with so much good- 
ness? 

Not only does Jesus wish a room vast and spa- 
cious, but also beautifully adorned. If your soul 
should be a dwelling-place worthy of God, she 
should be adorned with many virtues. This is a 
necessary condition for a worthy and fervent com- 
munion. And you know what these virtues should 
be: you should possess a lively faith, which shall 
present to you Jesus, true God and true man, un- 
der the sacred veils which hide Him from your cor- 
poral eyes — even as He was in the crib, when He 
received the adorations of the shepherds and the 
wise men; and even as He is in heaven, where He 
offers to His Father for you the wounds of His sa- 
cred humanity, the scars of which are still evident. 

While approaching the holy table, let your soul 
be filled with an ardent charity. The Eucharist is 
by excellence the sacrament of love. Love begets 
love. When Jesus opens His heart for you with 
unspeakable tenderness, should you close yours to 
Him? What to Him are your protestations, your 
words of devotion, your sterile assurances? It is 
your heart that He desires, and it is your love He 
yearns for. He says to you, with an incomparable 
sweetness: "My son, give Me thy heart." I ask it 



The Cenacle. 141 

of thee, not as the world asks it, to fill it with trou- 
ble, agitation, and often remorse; but I ask it that I 
may bless it, purify it, and enrich it with My graces. 
'*My son, give Me thy heart." What an enemy 
you shall be to yourself if you refuse to give it ! 

To a lively faith and an ardent charity add a pro- 
found humility. Alas, who are you to merit the 
distinguished honor which awaits you at the holy 
table? Moses, while thinking that he was only 
"dust and ashes," was astonished that God should 
hear him ; St. Elizabeth, on seeing the Blessed Vir- 
gin, who had come to visit her, exclaimed: 
*' Whence is this to me, that the Mother of my God 
should come to me?" The centurion acknowledged 
he was unworthy to receive Jesus in his house. 
But it is in your heart that Jesus is going to de- 
scend; He is about to unite Himself to you, and 
you to Him. Even were you an angel, you could 
not sufficiently merit such a favor. But oh ! how 
far you are from being an angel ! 

These preparatory dispositions for communion 
are indicated to us by a circumstance in which Je- 
sus gives us at once the example and the precepts. 
Before the mysterious repast at which the Blessed 
Eucharist was instituted. He put aside His gar- 
ments, and, after having girded Himself as the ser- 
vants do. He washed the feet of His apostles. 
What a lesson for us who are so jealous of our rank 
and dignity, so particular concerning precedence, 
and so desirous of honor ! The God of heaven and 
earth is on His knees before His apostles, washing 



142 Pahn Sunday, 

their feet with those hands which can hurl the 
thunders, heal the sick, and lavish blessings. And 
Peter, at the sight of his Master^s conduct, is seized 
with a holy indignation. " What ! Lord, Thou wash 
my feet! I shall never permit Thee.*' Peter fully 
realized the dignity of his Master, says Bossuet, 
and he only wished to hinder Him because of the 
lowliness of the ministry which He performed; he 
did not understand that this was, for him, an indis- 
pensable preparation for the Holy Eucharist, and 
that he could not participate in it unless his body 
and his feet also were purified ; that is to say, that 
the least stains, as well as the greatest faults, must 
be wiped away. But scarcely has Jesus declared to 
him that without this preparation he should have 
no part in His kingdom, than he exclaimed with 
greatest fervor : '' Ah, Lord, wash not only my feet, 
but my hands and my head. Purify me wholly." 
From this let us learn with what purity we should 
approach the holy table. After having effaced our 
grievous faults, do not neglect those which are ve- 
nial. You have been purified in the sacred waters 
of penance, but we have something yet to do. Be- 
sides those sins which kill the soul, there are others 
which disfigure it, and these also must be effaced. 
Then, before approaching the holy table, repeat 
with St. Peter: "Lord, my God, wash me, my feet, 
my head, my hands, that nothing in me shall be 
displeasing to Thy eyes, that I may be pure and 
without stain, to receive Thee into my heart, O God 
of purity!" 



EASTER SUNDAY. 

THE RESURRECTION. 

THE Resurrection of Jesus from the tomb is the 
model of that new life which every Christian 
. . . should live who has returned to grace. Let 
us study the sacred characters of the Saviour's Res- 
urrection, and learn on what conditions we also can 
arise with Him. 

First Point, — The Resurrection of Jesus presents 
three principal characters; viz., it is true, it is all 
for God, and it is forever. Such should be the 
qualities of our return to God. Our return to God 
should be sincere. The Resurrection of Jesus is 
not a fiction, but a reality. The proofs of it are: 
His absence from the tomb ; His winding-sheet and 
garments are left behind ; and His apparition to Si- 
mon. Behold by what marks we may recognize if 
our resurrection to grace is sincere. Virtuous men 
and true Christians must be able to say of us what 
the angels said of Jesus, "He is not here.'' You 
may seek for this person in his old habits, in parties 
of pleasure, at the plays, and among the worldly; 
but he is no longer there. " Why do you seek a 
living soul among the dead?" Behold the pledges 
of his conversion — the winding-sheet and the relics 
of his worldliness. Hitherto vanity was evident in 



144 Easter Sunday. 

his dress, but now modesty and decency are his 
most beautiful ornaments. This change should be 
apparent to every eye. Christians shall rejoice at 
this conversion, because it shall be their most beau- 
tiful eulogy. The worldly will laugh ; so much the 
better — their railleries shall be our first atone- 
ment. The second character of the Resurrection 
of Jesus is that it is all for God. Before His death 
Jesus lived in the world, and He lived a human 
life. But o];ice that He has arisen, He lives a life 
wholly celestial, He lives for God. His body even 
is spiritualized. It is on the heights of Galilee that 
His apostles must go to find Him. Behold our 
Model. '' Even as Jesus has arisen,*' says the apos- 
tle, ''we must also arise to a new life.*' He adds: 
"When I was a child, I thought as a child, I acted 
as a child; but having become a man, I have 
thought and acted as a man.'' Let us apply these 
words to ourselves. When we were sinners, 
worldlings, slaves to our passions, we thought and 
acted as sinners and as worldlings; if we have 
truly become Christians, we should act and love 
and think as Christians. 

According to the terms of the theology of St. 
Paul, there are in us two men — the old and the new. 
The old man is concupiscence, self, and pride. 
The new man is grace, Jesus, and faith. Now 
what is it to arise with Christ? It is to live His 
life. And what is it to live the life of Christ? To 
understand it well (for here is all the mystery and 
the foundation of Christian life), we must know that 



The Resurrection, 145 

life consists especially in two functions of the soul, 
viz., to think and to love. To live the life of Jesus, 
to live the life of faith, is to think of the world, of 
pleasures, of salvation, and of sufferings what Jesus 
thought of them ; to live the life of Jesus is to love 
what He loved. But what has He loved? What 
has He thought of the pleasures of the world, of 
riches, and of sufferings? Think of His birth. His 
life and His death, think of His teachings, and then 
answer. 

The third character of the Resurrection is its du- 
ration. Jesus once arisen dies no more. Never 
again shall we see Him assume His earthly garb or 
re-enter the tomb from which He came ; never shall 
He become a victim to death, even for an instant. 
Hence St. Paul says : " Death has no longer empire 
over Him.'' And so our resurrection to grace should 
be constant. No one should behold us resuming 
our old guilty habits, or falling again into sin. We 
have arisen from our tomb, be careful not to re- 
enter it. St. Paul says: " Know that grace has cru- 
cified in us the old man, that the reign of sin may 
be destroyed, and that we may serve sin no longer." 
What a crime, if, after having returned to God, after 
having tasted the sweetness of His love, we should 
go, as the unclean animal, to our former sinfulness. 
Let us ask of our risen Saviour to keep us far from 
such a misfortune, and that He may bind us so 
strongly to Himself that we shall never be sepa- 
rated from Him. 

Second Point, — The conditions to arise with Jesus. 
10 



146 Easter Sunday, 

The first condition is to die; in fact, only the dead 
can arise. Our soul cannot live at once the natural 
life which it has from the old Adam and the super- 
natural life which it must draw from the new 
Adam. These two lives are incompatible in their 
principles and in their effects. The principles of 
one are: nature, passions, pride, the senses; it has 
for its effects: pleasure, love of ease, and fear of 
sufferings. The principles of the supernatural life 
are : grace, faith, the promptings of the Holy Spirit ; 
its effects are: humility, a spirit of sacrifice, and a 
love of suffering. We must, therefore, necessarily 
choose. Hence the maxim in the language of the 
Christian, so common and so true : " We must die to 
live.'' The vile insect which crawls under the grass 
does not become a beautiful butterfly except by 
leaving its first form and its first life. And so the 
Christian must arise from his ashes; he must cease 
to be a man and become a Christian. St. Paul says : 
" Igdie every day.'' This saying is full of consola- 
tion ; it teaches us that spiritual death comes slow- 
ly; it is a daily work to be accomplished. Let us 
labor without relaxation, but let us labor without 
discouragement. 

And here let us ask how this spiritual death hap- 
pens. It comes only after the agony. There is no 
death without sorrow. Jesus replied to the disciples, 
who were frightened at the remembrance of His 
Passion : " It is necessary that Christ should suffer, 
and thus enter into His glory." It is the necessary 
condition. And this transformation which is made 



The Resurrection, 147 

in a Christian man is called mortification. *' If any 
one wishes to come after Me'* — that is to say, to live 
My life — "let him deny himself, take up his cross 
daily, and follow Me." This is the daily "I die" 
of St. Paul. Mortification, then, is the path which 
leads to death, as death is the path which leads to 
resurrection. And then to suffer, or, rather, to 
wish to suffer. " If any one wishes to come after 
Me." Do you know why there are so few Christians 
truly worthy of the name? So few who live the 
life of faith? It is because there are so few who 
consent to suffer. What a strange thing! We 
wish to live the supernatural life, we wish to arise 
with Christ, but we do not wish mortification ! We 
might just as well wish to die without suffering. 
Let us reform our erroneous ideas and walk after 
Jesus daily. He is laden with His cross, He as- 
cends the hill of Calvary; He is crucified and He 
dies. We must also ascend the Calvary of humili- 
ation, and embrace the cross, and allow ourselves 
to be crucified with Jesus to merit to arise as He 
did, to live with Him always. 



QUASIMODO. 

THE PEACE WHICH JESUS BRINGS TO THE WORLD. 

n^HE first time that Jesus met His apostles after 
His resurrection He wished them peace, and 
. . . He repeated this salutation on several occa- 
sions. Let us to-day meditate on the nature and 
excellence of this peace which Jesus announced to 
His apostles, and which He has merited by His 
death — peace with God, peace with our neighbors, 
and peace with ourselves. 

First Point, — Jesus has merited for us peace with 
God. This peace is the first and the most impor- 
tant matter. It is the fruit of justice, which is itself 
the fruit of the Saviour's merits. In what a terrible 
war sin has plunged man! What a fearful enemy 
it has raised against him! It is an angered God, 
pursuing man in His wrath, and preparing for him 
a terrible vengeance. Virtue, on the contrary, 
makes Him our most tender, our most faithful, and 
our most generous Friend. It is the Saviour Himself 
who tells us : " You shall be My friends, if you keep 
My commandments.'' And what can change this 
sweet union of the soul with her God? the soul 
that has, with her God, but a single Avish or will; 
that receives from His hand prosperity with grati- 
tude and adversity with resignation ; that is honored 



Peace zvJiich Jesus Brings to the World. 149 

by His gifts in profusion ; that refers to Him her 
glory and offers Him her humiliations; that in 
the midst of joy puts her delight in Him, and in 
the midst of sufferings rejoices at the thought of 
resembling Him and of pleasing Him? The friend- 
ship of God is the most solid as well as the most 
precious of all blessings ; everything else shall pass 
away, this friendship only shall have no limit. It 
will survive ourselves, and after having been, in 
the journey of life, the support, the consolation, and 
the happiness of virtue, it shall become, in the 
heavenly city, her immense and eternal recom- 
pense. Strive, therefore, carefully to preserve 
peace with your God by avoiding sin, which can 
alone occasion the loss of His friendship. 

Second Point. — Jesus has given us peace with our 
neighbor. St. James says : " Whence come wars and 
divisions amongst you ? Are they not from your 
passions which war in your members?'* Every- 
thing, in our corrupt nature, is a subject of conten- 
tion : both the desire to acquire and the fear of los- 
ing, envy at another's welfare and jealousy at 
what he possesses, the pleasures tasted at success 
and sorrow experienced at disappointment. The 
goods of earth cannot be possessed by all men, as 
they are too limited; still all strive for them, all 
dispute for them, all endeavor to seize them. There 
is only one good which is so vast that it may be 
possessed by the whole human race, which the world 
may enjoy without injury to any one, and which, 
far from being an object of contention, may be a 



150 Quasimodo^ 

bond of union and sweetest concord. It is God! 
And what should change the harmony which should 
exist between a Christian and his brethren? He 
should wish nothing for himself which he would 
not equally desire for them ; he should give much 
and ask nothing; he should never injure and always 
pardon. What hold can discord have on a soul of 
this character? 

It is from the grace of Jesus, as well as from His 
examples, that the Christian soul draws the strength 
to make every sacrifice for peace with his brethren. 
What sacrifice shall he make when he beholds his 
Master and Model so generously sacrifice His honor 
and His reputation? What pardon can the soul re- 
fuse when she hears the sweet Victim of Calvary 
pardon His executioners, pray for them, and excuse 
them? These lessons and these examples were 
still fresh in the minds of the early Christians, and 
were so closely followed that the pagans, struck 
with admiration, exclaimed : " See how these Chris- 
tians love one another!'* Oh, blessed days of early 
Christianity ! which have given to the world such a 
spectacle, when the whole society had but a single 
heart and a single soul! Would that this time 
would come again for us! Earth would become 
one peaceful sojourn, it would be the very image 
of heaven. 

Third Point, — Jesus has given us peace with our- 
selves. This peace consists in a twofold submis- 
sion, viz., the submission of the passions to reason, 
and reason to the divine law. Can tranquillity and 



Peace zvliich Jesus Brings to the World. 151 

calm exist in a soul which is disturbed by anger, 
tormented by avarice, inflated by pride, torn by 
envy, or agitated by luxury? You might just as 
well seek for tranquillity in the burning volcano. 
Although we yield to passions, we can never expect 
peace from them. You may suppose that you can 
moderate them, and hope that your reason may 
keep them within limits where they shall be at once 
satisfied and ruled by permitting what is agree- 
able and refusing them what is hurtful. But this 
is pure delusion. Consult only your own experi- 
ence. When has passion said. That is sufficient? 
Whenever has it failed to demand, and, w^hen 
yielded to, did not demand more? You may easily 
turn aside a stream at its source, but once allow it 
to become a torrent and it shall overthrow every 
barrier you may oppose to its destructive ravages. 
And so it is with the passions ; the more liberty they 
receive, the more difficult it becomes to arrest 
them. Reason is not strong enough to restrain 
their terrible bounds when they are unloosed ; then 
it is that every effort must be employed to hinder 
them from unbridled excesses. There is no medium 
for passion : it must be strongly repressed, or it will 
take fullest flight ; it must be subdued, or it will 
not obey ; the soul must be sovereign master, or it 
will be the slave. 

But where shall reason find arms sufficiently 
powerful to subdue such dangerous enemies which 
attack it with all their efforts and with all their 
seductions? Religion alone can give this strength 



152 Quasimodo. 

to reason. By her precepts she shows the means to 
tame the passions, and by her graces she gives 
those means. If your reason is perfectly submissive 
to the divine law, your passions will be in com- 
plete subjection to it; if you constantly do God's 
will, the passions shall constantly obey your will; 
when you obey God, they will obey you ; and by 
submitting yourself to the sovereign Master you 
become master of yourself. That is to say, that 
you shall acquire the most beautiful empire that is 
given to man to exercise here on earth — the empire 
of himself! It is in this sense that we say: "To 
serve God is to reign.*' Always aspire to this 
spiritual royalty ; it shall be your glory here below 
and it shall be your happiness in eternity. 



SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 

JESUS THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 

/^UR divine Saviour, in the Gospel of to-day, pre- 
sents Himself to us under the image of the 
. . . Good Shepherd. Oh, how pleasing is the pic- 
ture and what confidence it inspires ! Let us con- 
sider by what titles Jesus merits the character of 
Good Shepherd, and on what conditions you shall 
merit to be numbered among His faithful flock. 

First Point, — The titles of Jesus to the character 
of Good Shepherd are : the excess of His love, the 
sacrifice of His life, and the sacrament of His body 
and blood. From all eternity we belonged to God, 
but by the prevarication of our first father we were 
drawn into his misfortune, and we fell into the 
hands of the demon. The Eternal Word, touched 
by compassion for His fold, which was exposed to 
the ravages of the infernal wolf, left the sojourn of 
His glory and came on earth to deliver us. Is it 
necessary to repeat here all that He has done for 
us ? The memory of His fatigues and His labors is 
still fresh in our hearts. If He has gone through 
Judea so often, it was to save the lost sheep of the 
house of Israel. If He was seated at the well of 
Jacob, it was to save the poor sheep of Samaria. If 
He associated twelve apostles, it was to go through 



154 Second Sunday after Easter, 

all Judea, to bring together His dispersed flock. It 
was the desire to save Magdalen that prompted 
Him to go to the house of Simon the Pharisee. It 
was this same desire which led Him to the house of 
Zacheus, the publican. Now, that which He did 
during His mortal life He still does, although 
seated at the right hand of His Father. By His 
grace, by His priests, by the events which multiply 
his solicitude, He does not cease to conjure and urge 
sinners to return to His sheepfold. His excessive 
love justifies, therefore, the title of Good Shepherd 
which is given to our divine Saviour; but the sacri- 
fice of His life justifies it still more. 

Jesus Himself has said, " The good shepherd gives 
his life for his flock.'' It was necessary for Him to 
die in order to snatch us from the power of the de- 
mon, and shall He hesitate? Shall He permit His 
flock to perish, in order that He may save His own 
life? Have no fear of this. Even if hell shall sug- 
gest the most cruel torments, and the Jews con- 
demn Him to a frightful suffering and a shameful 
death, even if His Father shall seem to abandon 
Him, and pour out His anger on Him, He shall 
resign Himself to all this and shall make every sac- 
rifice. The soldiers wish to bind Him and He 
extends His hands; Pilate commands Him to be 
beaten by scourges, and He yields His body until 
He falls from exhaustion ; He is condemned to die, 
and He willingly walks to the place of immolation, 
carrying on His wounded shoulders the instrument 
of His punishment. The executioners command 



Jesus the Good Shepherd, 155 

Him to lie down on the cross, and He at once 
obeys. Behold My body, crucify it! Behold My 
veins, draw from them every drop of My blood! 
*'The good shepherd gives his life for his flock." 
O Jesus, how well Thou hast merited the title of 
Good Shepherd ! how well Thou hast fulfilled the 
obligations of that office! Do not permit that so 
much suffering should be endured in vain for me. 

But it is not enough that Jesus died for us. His 
ingenious love has done more: it has found the 
secret of surviving death and eternalizing His 
presence and His benefits among us. Ordinary 
shepherds lead their flocks into rich pastures, that 
they may find there the most abundant food. But 
Jesus has left to His flock His own flesh and blood 
which must serve them for food and nourishment. 
Not content with having died for our salvation, He 
wishes to unite Himself to us in such a manner that 
He shall be one with us. His blood shall flow in 
our veins, His flesh shall become our flesh, and His 
Sacred Heart shall beat near to our own. Where 
shall we ever find a love at all comparable to this? 
Oh, then, let us strive to be grateful ! Jesus calls us. 
His love urges us. Let us approach Him with confi- 
dence, and approach the holy table often. The 
greatest injury we can do Him is to despise His 
blessings. He awaits us to give us strength and 
life, and should we remain far from Him we shall 
condemn ourselves to weakness and to death. 

Second Point, — Among the characteristics which 
distinguish the faithful flock Jesus Himself des- 



T56 Second Sunday after Easter, 

ignates three. They are: to know, to hear, and 
to follow the Good Shepherd. To know Jesus is 
all the Christian; it is the happiness of the pres- 
ent and the future life. The Saviour of the world 
has said : '' O Father, eternal life consists in knowing 
Thee, and in knowing Him whom Thou hast sent.'* 
But who knows Jesus? Do you know Him? Have 
you that intelligent and reasonable knowledge of 
His religion and its mysteries which give to faith 
such solidity that it is proof against bad examples 
and impious words? Have you that practical 
knowledge of Jesus which studies His desires and 
conforms to them? Do you know His thoughts, 
that you may adopt them ; His maxims, that you 
may follow them ; or His precepts, that you may ob- 
serve them? Have you that filial knowledge of 
Jesus which produces love, which is penetrated 
by a holy respect in His presence, by profound 
gratitude at the remembrance of His blessings, by 
sincere regret at the sins which have displeased 
Him, and by the firm resolution of sinning no 
more? You say you know Jesus, but do you know 
that He is the source of all beauty, of all amiability, 
of all perfection, and is, consequently, the most 
worthy object of your love? And if you do know 
Him, then why do you love Him so little? 

The second character of the faithful flock is to 
hear the voice of Jesus. God communicates Him- 
self to us and speaks to us in three ways, viz. : by 
the Holy Scriptures, by His Church, and by con- 
science. Now, are you docile to this triple voice. 



Jesus the Good Shepherd. 157 

by which the Good Shepherd speaks to your soul? 
Do you know that the Holy Scriptures contain our 
mysteries and the rules of our conduct? Do you 
respect them as the word of God? 

The voice of the Church is also the voice of Jesus. 
" He that hears you hears Me, and he that despises 
you despises Me/' The priests of God's Church are 
the interpreters of Jesus, and it is in His name they 
speak to you, exhort you, and instruct you. How 
do you hear them ? What is your esteem for the 
holy word? 

Jesus speaks to you also by the voice of con- 
science. It is through your conscience that He 
shows you the good you should do and the evil you 
should avoid. What fruit do you draw from these 
teachings? When conscience tells you to cease fre- 
quenting such society, not to read such a book, and 
to abstain from such an action, do you hear it? 

Third Point. — The good sheep follow the good 
shepherd, and they follow no other. Do you follow 
Jesus in the way He has traced for you? He has 
suffered by His cross, by tribulations, by humilia- 
tions. Without doubt, had there been an easier way 
to heaven, He would have followed it. But the 
broad way, sown with flowers, is the way which 
conducts to perdition. Enter, therefore, willingly, 
after your divine Master, in the narrow and difficult 
way; this conducts surely to life eternal. Ask of 
Him the strength to walk in it with constancy, and 
that you may never depart from it. 



THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 

ON AFFLICTIONS. 

/^UR blessed Saviour has announced to His apos- 
tles, in the Gospel of to-day, that their destiny 
... on this earth is to endure afflictions, but that 
these afflictions shall be changed into joy. We 
shall therefore consider the conditions required 
that the afflictions of the Christian shall become for 
him a subject of joy. 

First Point, — The first condition required to 
change our sufferings to joy is to suffer for the 
faith. Even as Jesus must attain to glory and tri- 
umph by sufferings and humiliations, so also it was 
in the designs of God that the Church could not be 
established, nor could she be developed, except by 
persecutions. If the great ones of the earth had 
extended to the Church their powerful assistance, 
we might believe that her establishment on earth 
was a work purely human, and her existence was 
accounted for in the ordinary way ; but by refusing 
all human aid, in founding His religion in spite 
of armed opposition and the ever active human 
powers, God has clearly declared that religion owed 
her origin and development to Him. 

And it is precisely to show that she owes to Him 
her preservation, also, that God still permits, and 



071 Afflictions. 159 

shall permit to the end of time, His religion to be 
the object of attack from heresy, incredulity, and 
all the passions. If, therefore, yon wish to be a 
Christian, if you wish especially to practise your 
duties, you must expect persecutions from the 
world. True, indeed, you have no need to fear 
persecution from the sword; the modern methods 
on which our civilization prides itself seem to 
shield us from this danger. However, if God pre- 
served you from these fearful trials, if Satan should 
rouse again among you the persecutions which 
disturbed the first days of the Church, then recall 
the virtues which triumphed over them. Children 
of the martyrs, imitate the courage of your fathers, 
and dare as they did to resist even to blood ; do not 
hesitate to follow them even that far, and prefer a 
glorious death to a life dishonored by apostavSy. 

Second Point. — A second condition required to 
change our sufferings into joy is that they should 
be the consequence of our fidelity in the service of 
God. In addition to the violent persecution to 
which Christianity is sometimes exposed, the Chris- 
tian is liable to particular tribulations, less terrify- 
ing, unquestionably, but more difficult to endure, 
perhaps, by reason of their continuance. Besides, 
the world in which you live pursues you with its 
contradictions, its railleries, and its seductions. 
You must resist inclinations which attack you from 
within and passions which lead you away. The 
edifice of salvation is not erected as were the ram- 
parts of Jerusalem, by employing one hand to con- 



i6o Third Sunday after Easter, 

struct and the other to defend them. If you have 
entered upon the ways of justice, you have already 
traversed a part of the narrow and painful pathway 
which conducts to heaven ; but do not stop in your 
laborious career, and, after having surmounted the 
greatest obstacles, do not allow yourself to be cast 
down by the difficulties which yet remain to be over- 
come. On the contrary, at the sight of new difficul- 
ties take courage, for these are the very obstacles in 
your way which shall win the recompense. Every 
effort shall merit a new reward for you, and every 
victory shall add another jewel to the crown which 
is prepared for you. 

But if you have hitherto walked in the ways of 
iniquity, your return to God will meet with special 
obstacles in your inveterate habits, in your pas- 
sions, strengthened by long service in sin. Still, be 
not cast down. The difficulties you shall meet 
with shall be the most meritorious part of your 
penance. The more that the practice of virtues 
opposed to your vices shall cost the greater shall 
be the benedictions which you shall receive. If the 
sight of the barriers which obstruct the path of pen- 
ance for you shall frighten you, then lift up your 
eyes to the hand which guides you and which shall 
help you to surmount them. The most difficult step 
is the first, and in proportion as you advance you 
shall feel the pathway grow smooth under your 
feet. 

Third Point, — The third condition required to 
change your sufferings into joy is to suffer in a 



On Afflictions, i6i 

spirit of faith. When affliction falls on you, think 
that it is God who sends it to you, and that you 
must receive it with submission. Reflect that it is 
a law of our nature, then 5^ou shall accept it in 
patience; that it is the punishment of sin, and you 
shall receive it with resignation ; that it is a chas- 
tisement, and then you shall accept it with grati- 
tude ; that it is a trial to which Providence subjects 
you and you shall accept it with courage ; that it 
is the crucible in which Divine Goodness purifies 
you to make you more worthy, then you shall ac- 
cept it with joy. 

Jesus has spoken this word, which has ever been 
a subject of astonishment for the worldly and a 
consolation for the Christian : " Blessed are they 
that mourn, for they shall be comforted." When, 
therefore, afiSictions fall on you, think that you 
have one consolation — they come from God. Go 
then, not to your worldly friends — you would but 
weary them without any profit to yourself — but go 
to your divine Consoler; present Him your tears, 
and He will wipe them away; present Him your 
sorrows, and He shall sweeten them and give to 
you the sure hope that every sorrow you experi- 
ence shall be compensated by His graces. 

Fourth Point. — The fourth condition required to 
change sufferings into joy is voluntarily to accept 
them as an expiation for your past offences. We 
cannot hope to enter heaven except by the path- 
way which our divine Saviour Himself has trod. It 
is He who has declared this truth to us, that we 
II 



1 62 Third Sunday after Easter, 

must carry the cross. He has wished to suffer, the 
apostle tells us, in order to be not only our Re- 
deemer but our Model. Think of all the saints 
who have gone before you on earth and who have 
preceded you in the blessed country, and you shall 
not find a single one who has been exalted except 
after a life of mortification. All have attained to 
glory through humiliations, to the supreme good 
by self-abnegation, to happiness by sufferings: 
Look about, on every side, and you will not find 
another way. Ask from heaven some precepts 
and ask from earth some examples, but they shall 
have none others to give you. Mortification of the 
body, by retrenching its pleasures, of the soul, by 
a subjugation of the passions, are the true means, 
the absolutely necessary means of sanctification ; 
and, unhappily, we must add, the means but little 
known among men and rarely put in practice. 
Nothing is more common, even among those who 
believe themselves faithful, than a soft and sensual 
life, which is so opposed to the maxims and pre- 
cepts and example of Jesus Christ. Because there 
are few mortifications especially commanded us, 
there are those who believe that mortification is 
commanded only in some general manner, and 
even the few practices of self-denial which the 
laws of the Church make binding on us are not 
observed. We are wont to moderate them rather 
than to observe them. The secret of this so-called 
Christian conduct appears to be to conciliate the 
commands of God with the pleasures and dissipa- 



On Afflict ions. 163 

tions of the world : and we strive to content our- 
selves in the belief that we have conformed to the 
precepts when, although not violating them open- 
ly, we have had the unhappy facility of evading 
them. Never do this, but regard the law of pen- 
ance not as a burden, but as a blessing, since its 
observance shall secure for you your best and most 
sacred interests. 



FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 

OUR LOVE FOR JESUS. 

'T'HE affliction which the apostles experienced 
at the departure of their Master proves that 
. . . they loved Him with a love which was too hu- 
man. Our blessed Saviour reproached them for this, 
kindly, however, and at the same time He affords 
us an occasion to examine the nature of the love 
which we have for Him. Father Lacordaire says 
that "nothing is more simple than love, and still 
it contains three acts in the unity of its movement, 
viz., preference, devotion, and unity." 

First Point, — "Man, however vast his heart may 
be, cannot attach himself to everything with the 
same ardor. Surrounded by objects which, in dif- 
ferent degrees, have the impress of beauty, he shall 
find shades of difference in the attractions which 
hold him. Very often we cannot give a reason for 
our preference ; but what is certain is that we have 
our preferences and that love begins in us at the 
first moment the selection of the object is made." 
At the moment when we make our entrance into the 
life of affections we naturally love those whose age 
or studies or position are similar to our own ; and 
still our heart has already made its preferences. 
Almost without knowing it, a choice is quickly made 



Our Love for Jesus. 165 

of one who shall be for us more than fellow-student ; 
he shall be our friend, the confidant of our sorrows 
and our joys, our fears and our hopes; his memory 
shall not be effaced, but shall remain wath us dur- 
ing our whole life. 

Later, on our entrance into the world, a thousand 
objects armed with all the attractions which seduce 
and captivate come to knock at the door of our 
heart and to ask for our preference. Jesus, on. 
His part, with His cross in one hand and His Gos- 
pel in the other, calls us by the voice of conscience, 
and by the voice of His priests, by all that He has 
done for us, and by His titles to our love and grati- 
tude. We must make our choice. On this choice 
our earthly future depends and also our eternal des- 
tiny. If the heart of man always inclines towards 
the most worthy object of its choice, our prefer- 
ence shall not be doubtful. What being is more lov- 
able than the Saviour? But, unfortunately, in- 
stead of permitting ourselves to be guided by reason 
and by faith, we allow ourselves to be influenced 
by the passions, and w^e choose blindly. Shall you 
be fortunate enough to be proof against such sad 
influence? 

Second Point, — '' But love is not satisfied by the 
mere act of choice, it demands devotion from the 
one chosen. To choose is to prefer one before all 
others ; but to be devoted is to prefer the object of 
devotion even to yourself. Devotion is immolation 
of self to the object loved, and w^hoever does not go 
thus far does not love. We find this condition in 



1 66 Fourth Sunday after Easter 

all the affections in which virtue mingles the divine 
balm of her presence. It is that which inspires the 
mother, bending day and night over the cradle of 
her child ; it is that which fills the heart of the sol- 
dier and prompts him to face death boldly for his 
country; it is that which strengthens the martyr 
against the threats of tyrants and gives him greatest 
solace in all his punishments. These are the traits 
of love which the world, all corrupted as it is, rec- 
ognizes and admires. And if love has not had at 
all times an opportunity to manifest itself by noblest 
sacrifices, it constantly shows, however, by lesser 
sacrifices that it carries within it the germs which 
make it as strong as death, as the Sacred Scriptures 
attest" (Pere Lacordaire). 

Is it thus that you have loved Jesus ? After having 
chosen you to make you His child of predilection, 
He has recalled you to His admirable light. He 
has devoted Himself to you, and as a proof of it 
He vowed Himself to death, and to an ignominy 
more frightful than death, to redeem your soul and 
to open heaven for you. Hence St. Paul says: 
*' Jesus has loved me, He has delivered Himself up 
for me." And thus it is that all the saints have 
loved, by responding to His devotion with their own 
devotion. Listen to St. Paul: ''What shall sepa- 
rate us from the charity of Christ ? Shall it be tribu- 
lation, sufferings, hunger, or thirst? Shall it be 
danger, persecution, or the sword? But we are 
stronger than all these fears, for the sake of Him 
who has loved us. Yes, I am certain that neither 



Our Love for Jesus, 167 

life nor death, neither angels nor principalities, 
neither the present nor the future, neither strength, 
nor height, nor depth, nor any creature, can sepa- 
rate us from the charity of God, which is in Christ 
Our Lord." Behold what St. Paul thought and 
spoke, and what all the saints thought and spoke 
as well as he. Can you hurl the same defiance 
to every creature ? Consult your own heart, and 
then answer. 

Third Point, — "There still remains the third act 
which crowns the marvellous drama, and in which 
our soul is at once the theatre and the actress. 
After we have chosen the object of our preference, 
and after we have given ourselves in fullest devo- 
tion, there still remains something to be done" 
(Pere Lacordaire). 

Union is necessary. This is the end and the 
limit of love in the heart of God and in the he.art of 
the Christian. Not content with having chosen us 
as His well-beloved creature, with having given us 
grace, life, heaven, and happiness by the complete 
sacrifice of Himself, Jesus has wished to unite Him- 
self to us in the closest manner. And what has He 
done to accomplish this ? O marvellous love of a 
God for His creature ! He began by uniting Him- 
self to our miserable nature; He became man, as 
one of us ; He lived our life ; He has wished to dwell 
with us, and to find His delights in remaining with 
us. But this sojourn was necessarily transitory; 
this union of the Word in the Incarnation was 
His union with human nature in general. The 



1 68 Fourth Simday after Easter, 

heart of Jesus wished more, and He has done more. 
He has instituted the Holy Eucharist, and thereby 
has found the secret of eternalizing His presence 
among men, whom He has loved so much. He has 
wished to give Himself and to unite Himself to each 
one in particular. What love ! Can you ever be 
sufficiently grateful? 

If you love Jesus truly, it is not enough to have 
chosen Him for your Friend and your King ; it is 
not enough to be prepared for entire devotion and 
even to immolate yourself for Him. You should 
earnestly aspire to be united to Him. This union, 
the object of delight to the heart that loves, consists 
in the complete fusion of your heart with the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus, by the same thoughts, the same de- 
sires, and the same wishes. You should regard the 
things of the world — its pleasures, its honors — as 
He regarded them. It is necessary that you should 
love and desire what He has desired and loved. 
What union could ever exist between two hearts 
whose sentiments and affections were quite con- 
trary? But because it is in the Holy Eucharist that 
the union with Jesus is closest and most intimate, 
it is necessary that you should be most anxious to 
be nourished by it. Indifference for this sacrament 
would testify your want of love. How, can you 
think that you love Jesus, when you have so little 
desire to be united to Him? 

Adorable Master, Thou hast chosen me for Thy 
child when I was so unworthy ; Thou hast devoted 
Thyself to my salvation in spite of the abuse I have 



Our Love for Jesus. 169 

made of Thy grace. Thou desirest to be united to 
me, to lift me up to Thee. I wish also to take 
Thee for my only inheritance, to sacrifice myself 
for Thee, and to remain faithful to Thee; and, by 
uniting myself often with Thee in the sacrament of 
Thy love, may I merit to be eternally united with 
Thee in the Kingdom of Thy glory. 



FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 

ON PRAYER. 

n^HE reproach which Jesus makes to His disciples, 
in the Gospel of to-day, for not having pra5^ed 
... in His name, must reveal to us the reason that 
the prayers of so many Christians, and yours in 
particular, are fruitless. The reason is, they do not 
pray, and you do not pray, in the name of Jesus. 
Strive, therefore, to understand how you should 
pray, and to pray" in the name of the adorable Mas- 
ter. 

First Point, — To pray in the name of Jesus is to 
pray in virtue of His merits and in union with Him. 
We are, after all, only sinful men, and we only merit 
the anger of Heaven ; so that when God deigns to 
hear us it is not through any merit of ours, but it 
is solely in consideration of Jesus His Son. He is 
the powerful Mediator between God and man. He 
is the eternal Intercessor before His Father, He 
constantly ojffers our prayers to Him, and thus 
secures for them a favorable acceptance. Nothing 
is agreeable to God except what comes to Him 
through His divine vSon. When our prayers are 
presented by Him, when they are united and, as 
it were, incorporated with His, they then become, 
in a manner, divine prayers. It is not we, properly 



On Prayer, 171 

speaking, whom God hears, but Jesus who prays 
for us and with us, and hence the efficacy of prayer 
offered in His name. God, who owes us nothing, 
can refuse nothing to His Son. 

And so at every instant the benefits of redemp- 
tion are applied to each of our actions. Jesus on 
earth was our Redeemer ; in heaven He is our In- 
tercessor, and, on His heavenly throne He con- 
summates the grand work which He began on the 
cross. He has not ceased to shed His blood for us, 
except to offer it continually in our behalf. This 
teaching, which is at once consoling and encourag- 
ing, shows us our blessed Saviour standing between 
His Father and us ; in one hand He offers Him our 
prayers and in the other He brings us His graces. 
He is all-powerful before God because of His merits, 
and over our hearts, to make us acquire them. The 
apostles did not yet know this consoling dogma 
of the mediatorship of Jesus. Hitherto they had 
prayed, as all the other Jews had prayed, in their 
faith in the Messias. By commanding them to 
pray, henceforth, in His name, the divine Master 
began to reveal to them His character of Mediator. 
But you, who know this truth so well, approach your 
heavenly Father; clothed by the merits of your 
Saviour, pray in His name, being fully assured that 
you shall be heard. The promise of Jesus is most 
formal : '' Everything that you shall ask the Father 
in My name shall be given you.'' 

Second Point, — To pray in the name of Jesus is 
to ask what He wishes we should ask. As there are 



172 Fifth Sunday after Easter. 

two kinds of goods, spiritual and temporal, there 
are also two kinds of legitimate objects which we 
may request, but the rules of prayer are not the 
same for both. Certainly we are not forbidden to 
ask God for temporal goods. In the prayer which 
Jesus Himself has dictated to us He makes us ask 
for our daily bread, and the Church, enlightened by 
His spirit, implores fruitfulness for the earth, regu- 
larity of the seasons, the health of the atmosphere, 
the prosperity of States, and universal peace. Let 
us also ask, with her, all these blessings, but let us 
ask them as she does. We should observe in our 
prayers the order the Church follows and the end 
she proposes. 

The order which the Church follows is according 
to the precept of her divine Founder. She begins 
her prayer by asking for the kingdom of God and 
His justice; her petitions for earthly things are 
only secondary. 

The end which the Church proposes in her prayers. 
She does not ask the goods of the present life, ex- 
cept in so far as they may be conducive to salva- 
tion. These are the only prayers in the temporal 
order which may be made in the name of Jesus. 
The mission of our divine Saviour, His labors, His 
sufferings, and His pains were only for our sanctifi- 
cation. It would, then, be a gross error to think of 
applying to objects which are foreign to salvation 
those merits of Jesus which have only our salvation 
for their object and aim. 

As for prayers in the spiritual order, they can 



On Prayer, 173 

be general or particular. We may ask in general 
for our salvation and the graces which shall be con- 
ducive for it, or we may solicit a special and distinct 
grace. The first kind of prayer is at all times and 
under every circumstance assured of its effect. The 
promise of Jesus applies to it in all its extent and 
without restriction or reserve of any kind. God 
wishes our salvation as much and more than we do ; 
so that when we ask of Him, in the name of Jesus, 
that which enables us to gain our salvation we are 
certain to obtain it. Sometimes the request of a 
special grace, as the conversion of a parent, the 
reformation of a defect, is not heard ; it is because 
God knows best what is advantageous for us. That 
which we desire as our greatest good may be perhaps 
opposed to a greater good, of which we are ignorant, 
or may be prejudicial to us in a way we do not per- 
ceive. Again, it is the infinite goodness of God 
which refuses us. In vain did the great St. Paul 
ask of God three times to be delivered from the 
angel of Satan, who tormented him. This trial was 
useful for him, since the magnificent revelations 
with which he was favored were not occasions of 
pride and destruction for him. God Himself as- 
sured him that His grace was sufficient, and that 
his virtue should be perfected by temptations. 

Third Point, — To pray in the name of Jesus is 
to ask as He wishes us to ask, viz., with purity 
of heart, humility, confidence, perseverance, and 
attention. 

Prayer should come from a heart which is pure 



174 Fifth Sunday after Easter, 

and exempt from sin. The sinner has lost all the 
rights which the merits of Jesus had acquired for 
him to the grace of salvation. One prayer only can 
serve him, and it is the prayer of penance; there 
remains but one grace to implore, and that is par- 
don. Every other shall be useless for him and 
shall be refused. If, then, you have had the mis- 
fortune to sin, beg before everything, by your most 
ardent supplications, the grace of your pardon, and 
that only shall render you worthy to receive other 
graces. 

The second condition of prayer is humility. '* The 
prayer of the humble man shall penetrate the 
clouds.'' The impious Achab at last humbled 
himself before God, and by this act alone he ob- 
tained that the thunders of the heavenly anger, 
already suspended above his head, should be turned 
away. Is it possible for us to have an idea of 
prayer and be ignorant of this fundamental rule? 
Why, arrogance in prayer is not only a vice — it is 
contradiction, it is a madness! Would some great 
one of the earth receive a request which should be 
asked with pride? The very need which leads us 
to the feet of the King of kings should make us 
also feel our dependence on Him. 

Confidence is the third condition of prayer. A 
man would feel injured if you should doubt his 
word. Your doubts are then an outrage against 
God. And of what are you uncertain? Is it of His 
fidelity, or is it of His power? Put no limit to your 
hopes; He has placed none to His engagements. 



On Prayer, 175 

You will never please Him by reserved or timid 
requests. Fearlessly ask the most excellent gifts. 
If it is a virtue you need, ask that it be perfect; if 
it is a victory, ask that it may be complete ; if it is 
the pardon of your sins, then ask for the entire re- 
mission of them. Divine munificence is the con- 
trary of human liberality: the more you ask, the 
more you have a right to obtain. 

The fourth quality of prayer is perseverance. 
Jesus promises that prayer made in His name shall 
be heard, but He has not designated the time. He 
engages Himself to grant every request, but not as 
soon as you have formulated your demands. Often, 
on the contrary, He seems not to hear you, but this 
is precisely to test your faith, your patience, your 
humility, and your fervor. And, after, all, are not 
the graces of God sufficiently precious and worthy 
of being asked for long and often ? 

Attention is the fifth condition of prayer. With- 
out attention there can be no prayer. The most 
necessary act of religion cannot be a purely exte- 
rior practice. Can we, in good faith, persuade our- 
selves that we love God, and implore Him, and 
return Him thanks, and yet without thinking of 
Him? That which essentially constitutes prayer, 
the prayer which God hears, is not a mere sound 
which comes from the mouth and is lost in the air, 
but it is the sentiment of the heart which arises to 
Him. Let us reflect on these different conditions of 
prayer, and see if we have hitherto prayed in the 
name of Jesus. 



SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. 

THE HOLY GHOST. 

^O appreciate fully how great is the love which 
Jesus manifests for us in promising us the 
. . . Holy Ghost, it is necessary to know what is the 
ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in 
the hearts of the faithful. 

First Point. — The ministry of the Holy Spirit in 
the Church. Our divine Saviour attributes to Him 
three principal functions. He is the Consoler, and 
the Church calls Him *'the best Consoler." Never 
has any one merited this title more than He. There 
is not among men a single one who has not fallen 
into misfortune. Where shall man turn for con- 
solation? His very friends fly from him, even as 
the birds of passage depart at the approach of 
winter. If some should strive to console him, they 
can only exhort him to patience and speak of the 
necessity of suffering. This necessity is incon- 
testible, without doubt, but it is truly disheartening 
when suffering is separated from religion ; for then 
sufferings have neither principle, nor end, nor rec- 
ompense. But, on the contrary, we find greatest 
consolation in suffering when it is viewed in the 
light of the Holy Spirit. And how does this hap- 
pen? Because the Holy Spirit reveals to the unfor- 



The Holy Ghost, 177 

tunate sufferers that the true cause of sorrow is in 
the sins which have been committed; because He 
makes sufferings glorious, since they give to him 
who suffers a trait of resemblance to Jesus; because 
sufferings may become a means of expiation for sin 
and, consequently, a means of attaining the happi- 
ness of heaven. It is the special office of the Holy 
Spirit to accord us these sublime consolations, and 
He only has the power to make us taste them. 

The Holy Spirit is called by Jesus the Spirit of 
Truth. He merits this title because it is He who is 
the Author of all truth ; it is He who propagates and 
spreads it ; it is He who convinces the intelligence 
of man and makes him receive it. The law of 
Moses clearly pointed out the duty, but it did not 
afford strength to put this duty in practice. The 
world proclaims the eulogy of virtue, but this sterile 
admiration gives no aid to the heart, which is left 
to its own weakness. It belongs to the Holy Spirit 
only to reveal to us all truth, and to render it lov- 
able and easy for us. See the apostles ; think of 
their ignorance with regard to the mystery of the 
cross. It was for them an " unintelligible word, " but 
hardly had they received the Holy Spirit than they 
understood the happiness of sufferings. They con- 
sidered themselves happy to have endured ignominy 
for the name of Jesus. Had not Jesus already said : 
" Blessed are they who suffer persecutions for jus- 
tice's sake" ? These were new sentiments, which had 
hitherto been unknown. This truth was too deep 
for the apostles — ''You cannot bear it now." The 



178 Sixth Sunday after Easter, 

Holy Spirit was necessary. It was His mission to 
enlighten their intelligence, and to make them taste 
the maxims which take away all the repugnances 
of nature. 

The same ignorance still exists. Carnal minds 
revolt at the obscurity of our mysteries; sinners 
do not see the abyss open at their feet ; even many 
pious people do not understand Christian life. 
They all need the light of the Holy Spirit. If you 
wish to receive Him, correct in yourself every dis- 
position which would render you unworthy of His 
holy communications. 

The Holy Spirit must give testimony to Jesus. 
He gives this testimony in a most splendid manner, 
in manifesting His divinity by countless prodigies. 
On the very day when the Holy Spirit descended 
on the apostles they were transformed into other 
men. St. Peter preached his Master and his God 
before multitudes of different peoples whom the 
solemnity of the day had assembled at Jerusalem, 
and all heard him speak in their own native tongue. 
The most splendid miracles attest the divine mis- 
sion of the apostles and the divinity of Him who 
sent them. These poor fishermen, without the 
study of human sciences, without credit, without 
the art of eloquence, undertook the conversion of 
the world ; and in spite of prejudices and persecu- 
tions, in spite of obstacles humanly insurmount- 
able, the greatest success crowned their efforts. 
Legions of virgins triumphed over the corruption 
of the pagan world by their purity ; millions of 



The Holy Ghost, 179 

martyrs died in testimony of the divinity of the 
Christian faith. In spite of all the efforts of the 
mighty ones, all the resources of genius, all the 
artifices of sophistry, all the revolts of passion, the 
Church was established and developed, and con- 
tinued her triumphant march along the ages. Be- 
hold how the Holy Spirit has rendered, and still 
renders, testimony to Jesus, the Saviour of the 
world. 

Second Point, — The ministry of the Holy Spirit in 
the hearts of the faithful. He exercises three prin- 
cipal functions in us: He brings us forth to Chris- 
tian life, He sanctifies us, and He gives us the 
pledge of our divine affiliation. He brings us forth 
to Christian life. At the beginning, God the Father 
called the world from nothingness ; on the cross, the 
Incarnate Word reformed man by His blood ; in the 
Church, the Holy Spirit creates this supernatural 
life, which absorbs in the Christian all that there 
is there of the old Adam, even to his name of man, 
and makes of him a creature wholly new. The 
Church proclaims these admirable effects of the 
Holy Spirit by her enthusiastic chants: ''Come, 
Spirit Creator — send Thy Holy Spirit and renew the 
face of the earth." But where is this new creation 
wrought? At first in Baptism, and then, if we 
should lose this precious life, in the Sacrament of 
Penance, when the Holy Spirit returns it to us by 
His grace. 

The Holy Spirit sanctifies us. He is the love 
which unites the Father and the Son ; He personi- 



i8o Sixth Sunday after Easter. 

fies, in a manner, the love of God for us. He it is 
who is the Source of all graces, or, rather, He is 
grace itself. In the same manner as the just man 
who rejoices in grace is the living temple of the 
Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit dwells in him as a lov- 
able guest — dulcis hospes afthnce. It is from Him 
good inspirations come which prompt us to good 
works, and those holy inspirations which keep us 
from evil. It is His strength which sustains us in 
combats, and His light which removes our doubts. 
It is His charity which encourages the Christian to 
practise the most heroic virtues, and it is by Him 
that the just attain the most sublime perfection. 
The sanctification of man is attributed to the Holy 
Spirit particularly, as the creation is attributed to 
the Father, and the redemption to the Son. And 
thus it is that the august Trinity is wholly engaged 
in procuring our happiness. 

The Holy Spirit gives us a pledge of our divine 
affiliation. This is the very teaching of St. Paul. 
Listen to his admirable words, and then you can 
comprehend the nobility which your vocation to 
the faith gives you. He writes to the faithful at 
Ephesus: ''You have been marked by the Holy 
Spirit, who is the seal of the promise and the pledge 
of the heavenly inheritance. Never forget that you 
are the temples of God and that the Holy Spirit 
dwells in you" (Acts). And read what he writes 
to the Romans : " You have not received the spirit 
of bondage again in fear, but you have received the 
spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, My 



The Holy Ghost. i8i 

Father. For the Spirit Himself gives testimony to 
our spirit, that we are the sons of God/* And if we 
are sons, we are also heirs, yes, heirs of God and 
co-heirs of Jesus. See, therefore, what magnificent 
destinies await us. Pray to the Holy Spirit that He 
may render you worthy, not only to see Him, but to 
realize Him fully. 



THE ASCENSION. 

ON THE MYSTERY. 

CORTY days after His resurrection, Jesus gath- 
ered His disciples together. St. Paul assures us 
. . . that they numbered fully five hundred. Then 
Jesus led them to the mountain of Olives, and after 
blessing them He disappeared from them, rising 
majestically to heaven. If we seek to know why 
Jesus returned to Heaven, we shall find He re- 
turned for Himself and for us. 

First Point, — It is for Himself and for His own 
glory that Jesus triumphantly ascended to heaven. 
Bossuet says: "As a prince who has on hand a 
great war against a foreign nation quits his king- 
dom for a time to go forth and combat his enemies 
in their own country, and when the expedition shall 
have ended he shall return with superb display into 
the capital city of his own country, his followers 
and his chariots adorned by the spoils from the con- 
quered people; so the Son of God, our King, wish- 
ing to overthrow the reign of the demon who by an 
insolent usurpation was boldly declared the prince 
of the world, has Himself descended from heaven to 
earth to conquer this irreconcilable enemy. Hav- 
ing deposed him from his throne by arms of the 
weakest kind were they in other hands than His, 



On the Mystery, 183 

there was nothing else to do than to return trium- 
phantly to heaven, which is the place of His origin 
and the principal seat of His royalty." It is, then, 
Jesus marching royally to the throne of His glory 
whom you are now considering. What a grand and 
magnificent spectacle! How different He is on 
this day, the high and powerful Lord, from what 
you have hitherto seen Him? His departure from 
the earth is very different from His entrance into 
the world. Then He manifested Himself in His in- 
firmity ; He was little ; He was born as the children 
of men are born ; He, the King of heaven and earth, 
descended into a stable. We see Him weak, and 
His mother Mary carrying Him in her arms; He 
was subject to the needs of our body, and experi- 
enced hunger, thirst, fatigue, and sufferings. He 
was a man — not the primitive man, ruling the earth, 
happy, immortal; but, apart from sin, a man like 
to fallen man : that is to say, a man of sorrows, de- 
spised, beaten, outraged; a mortal man obliged to 
submit to an ignominious death, the death of the 
cross. Many of those who saw Him in that degra- 
dation did not know Him. Jerusalem remained 
indifferent when the Wise Men came to speak to 
Him ; Samaria closed her gates against Him ; Naza- 
reth wished to cast Him from the high hills on 
which she was built, and the doctors of the law 
laughed at Him when He answered them. The 
Pharisees calumniated Him, the synagogues ex- 
pelled Him, and the whole people cried out, 
"Crucify Him!" But to-day Jesus avenges His 



184 The Ascension, 

sacred humanity on all their degradations, all 
their outrages, and He manifests Himself glori- 
ous and triumphant in the eyes of the whole uni- 
verse. 

The cross of Jesus has ceased to be a scandal for 
the Jews. They wished for a glorious Messias. 
Is He, then, without glory — He who conquered 
death, and, having accomplished His mission on 
earth, returns to heaven in magnificence? He is 
more splendid than Solomon in all his glory, 
stronger than David in battles, more beautiful than 
Absalom in the flower of his youth, more holy than 
Enoch and Elias, who were taken up from earth. His 
body, which had been placed and sealed in a sepul- 
chre, had undergone a glorious transformation; 
His face shone as the sun; His vestments were 
white as snow; His reed sceptre is changed to a 
sceptre of command; His crown of thorns is re- 
placed by an aureola of light ; at His feet are His 
disciples, and above His head legions of angels are 
descending: the earth is silent before Him, and the 
elements await His command ; a docile cloud lowers 
about His feet, and He ascends — ascends into the 
heavens, leaving Judea, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and 
Calvary, and to take in exchange possession of the 
heavenly Jerusalem, the city of Sion, the kingdom 
of His Father! Arise, then, Lord, above the 
heavens, and let Thy glory shine throughout the 
whole earth. As for me, Lord Jesus, my King and 
my Master, I am proud of my name of Christian ; 
on this day, especially, when Thou coverest all the 



On the Mystery, 185 

humiliations of man with the strength and the 
omnipotence of God. 

Second Point, — Jesus returns to heaven in our in- 
terest. It is, first, to prepare a place for us. The 
gates of heaven had been closed by the sin of 
Adam and no one could enter there, before the 
divine Mediator. Even the just of the Old Law, the 
Abels, the Abrahams, and the Jacobs, these men so 
famous in our sacred books for the splendor of their 
virtues and their lively faith, awaited in Limbo for 
the day of their deliverance ; and it is to-day that 
they enter heaven with Jesus. Henceforth the 
gates of the Holy City are open to us: let im- 
mortal thanks be given to our blessed Saviour! 
He has marked out the way for us by His les- 
sons, by His precepts, and by His examples 
while He lived on earth; to-day He has thrown 
the gates wide open for us. He is there our 
Precursor. From His sojourn of glory, He ex- 
tends His hands to us and calls us to Him. He 
said to His apostles: " I go to prepare a place for 
you." But this place shall not be for us, except 
we merit it. 

Jesus ascends to heaven, and there occupies a 
throne at the right hand of His Father, to serve us 
as Advocate and Intercessor before God. And so 
He quits the earth, but does not abandon us. In 
the sojourn of His glory He loves us still, and His 
blood pleads for us. As the always-living Mediator, 
He intercedes in our behalf. It is through Him we 
have access to the heavenly Father. By His prayers 



1 86 The Ascension, 

He gives to our prayers a value ; by His thanks- 
giving, our gratitude is acceptable; by His obla- 
tions, our sacrifices are made worthy; by His 
sorrows, our penance is valuable ; by His sufferings, 
our mortifications are efficacious ; and by His expia- 
tions, our satisfaction is complete. It is in union 
with His merits that our feeble works become 
meritorious. The eternal Mediator between God 
and man continues in heaven the ministry which 
He exercised on the cross. It is He who has 
prompted St. John to say: "Be consoled, my 
children, and do not despair; if you have sinned, 
remember that you have in heaven an Advocate, 
who is all-powerful and who shall plead your cause 
before God." 

Jesus has ascended to heaven to send us the Holy 
Ghost, whose mission it shall be to complete the 
work of redemption. The effusion of the Holy 
Spirit on earth, His visible descent on the 
apostles, are the recompense of the Passion of 
Jesus on the cross. He could not be given, 
therefore, until the Sovereign Priest had con- 
summated His sacrifice in heaven. "For as yet 
the Spirit was not given, because Jesus was not 
yet given" (John vii.). Moreover, Jesus had 
formally declared that, "if I do not go, the Holy 
Spirit shall not come, but if I go, I shall send 
Him to you." 

O my amiable Master, since Thy entrance into 
heaven must have such precious results, then quit 
this earth : enter heaven to fulfil there the ministry 



On the Mystery. 187 

of Mediator; appease divine justice, which I have 
so often angered by my crimes, and grant me the 
grace of imitating Thee on earth, that I may pos- 
sess Thee and contemplate Thee eternally in 
heaven. 



PENTECOST. 

ON THE MYSTERY. 

npO-DAY the Church commemorates the descent 
of the Holy Ghost on the apostles. There can 
... be nothing more interesting for us to know 
than the dispositions which are required to receive 
Him and the effects which He produces in those who 
receive Him. 

First Point, — Dispositions required to receive the 
Holy Spirit. The first is recollection. The Holy 
Spirit Himself tells us that He leads into solitude 
the soul with whom He wishes to speak. God can- 
not communicate Himself to a disturbed or agitated 
soul. The apostles were in retreat when the Holy 
Spirit descended upon them. And hence we con- 
clude that everything which disturbs the soul pre- 
occupies the heart, and consequently is an obstacle 
to the communications of the Holy Spirit and to the 
support and strength of the Christian life. The 
reading of romances, the frequentation of worldly 
assemblies, a love for plays are, therefore, incom- 
patible with a spirit of piety. And it is for this 
reason that Jesus in His Gospel condemns all 
these diversions. The world is astounded at this 
reprobation, and accuses the Gospel of too great 
severity. Perhaps you yourself have thought and 



On the Mystery. 189 

spoken as the world of this matter; but think of 
the levity and injustice of this language, in com- 
paring the disturbance produced by romances, balls, 
and spectacles with the recollection required for 
the holy and sweet communications of the Divine 
Spirit. 

Vigilance is the second disposition required to re- 
ceive the Holy Spirit. When the days of Pentecost 
were accomplished, says the Sacred Text, "a sound 
from heaven was heard, as of a mighty wind com- 
ing." It is in a sudden and unlooked-for way that 
grace knocks at the door of our heart, and that the 
Holy Spirit communicates Himself to a soul. He 
does not consult our time, but we should await His 
time of coming. St. Paul was suddenly stricken to 
the earth while on his way to Damascus. It was sud- 
denly that the mysterious star appeared to the Wise 
Men. We should, therefore, be attentive to the 
movements of the Holy Spirit ; want of vigilance 
would cause us to lose a multitude of graces which 
would sanctify us. 

It is this want of vigilance in studying the secret 
movements of grace that each day permits us to 
miss a thousand happy occasions of performing acts 
of virtue ; our resolutions remain sterile, and our 
most sacred promises are never realized. But do 
we not make them in good faith? Unquestionably 
our desire is sincere, but it is inefficacious because 
we forget them at the moment when we should 
keep them. If we are exposed to humiliation, this 
would be an occasion for us to make an act of 



190 Pentecost, 

humility. If an injury be done us, this would offer 
an opportunity for making an act of love. Perhaps 
we may meet with a disappointment, some opposi- 
tion, or some suffering; this should be the moment 
for making an act of patience. Unfortunately, 
natural impressions precede reflection, and we be- 
come unfaithful when, with greater vigilance, we 
should have acquired a new merit for heaven. 

The third condition for receiving the Holy Spirit 
is to ask it by fervent prayer. '' He will give the 
good spirit to them that ask Him.'' Grace comes 
from heaven ; therefore we should seek it there, 
since it is from there we must expect it. Attract 
the Holy Spirit to you by the profound conviction 
of your misery and your weakness, by the earnest- 
ness of your desires, and by the knowledge which 
you have of the need of His gifts. Let your soul 
be before Him as the parched earth, which, by its 
very dryness, seems to implore the dews of heaven. 
The apostles were engaged in prayer when they re- 
ceived the Holy Spirit. Then imitate them, pray 
with fervor, and in asking for the Holy Spirit you 
ask for the source of all gifts. 

Second Point, — The effects of the Holy Spirit. The 
principal effects of the Holy Spirit are indicated in 
the Epistle of to-day. He comes like a mighty 
wind. As the wind drives before it straw and dust 
and renews the corrupted air, so the Holy Spirit 
drives away all carnal affections, earthly desires, 
worldly thoughts, and every evil from the heart. 
He overthrows all idols and breaks every bond; 



On the Mystery, 191 

He purifies the atmosphere of the soul and expels 
the miasms of sin. 

He filled the whole house. He filled the cenacle 
in which the apostles were assembled. These ex- 
pressions should make us understand with what 
abundance the Holy Spirit communicates His gifts. 
He fills the Church with them, and enriches her with 
every virtue and every grace. He showers His 
gifts on the faithful soul and with as great a liber- 
ality as He finds perfect dispositions. Therefore 
open to Him all the avenues of your soul, widen 
and extend all her faculties, that He may enrich 
her with all His gifts. 

The Holy Spirit rested on the apostles in the form 
of tongues of fire. This circumstance reveals to 
you two principal effects of the Holy Spirit, viz. : He 
enlightens and gives warmth at the same time. 
What is more worthy of admiration than the lights 
which He caused to shine on the intelligence of the 
apostles? What knowledge of the Holy Scriptures ! 
What intelligence concerning the highest mysteries I 
Jesus had said to them : " I have much more to com- 
municate to you, but you are not capable of under- 
standing now; but when the Spirit of truth shall 
come, He shall reveal everything to you. '* His words 
were verified to the letter. Men so slow to believe 
and so densely ignorant have hardly received the 
Holy Spirit, than they astonish the most learned by 
their profound science ; at length they understand 
what another Teacher had said to them when they 
could not comprehend His teachings: " Blessed are 



192 Pentecost, 

they that tnotirn, blessed are they that suffer perse- 
cution for justice." These truths, which are so op- 
posed to all the sentiments of nature and to all the 
prejudices of the world, are now believed and ac- 
cepted, from the first day, by three thousand per- 
sons. Oh how great is the power of the Holy Spirit ! 
He whom the Holy Scriptures call the most beauti- 
ful among the children of men. He "who went 
about doing good," in spite of His virtues and bene- 
fits could only win to Himself a small number of 
disciples; but at the first preaching of St. Peter 
three thousand men became Christians! This is 
what the Holy Spirit has done for the world. 

And while He enlightens the intelligence, the 
Holy Spirit warms and inflames the heart. He is 
the Spirit of love as well as the Spirit of truth. Of 
all the sentiments which agitate the human heart, 
love is the most powerful. Read the lives of the 
saints. What self-abnegation we see in their lives! 
What zeal for the glory of their heavenly Father ! 
What charity for their brethren ! With what energy 
did they repress temptations, and with what con- 
tempt did they trample under foot all the seductions 
of the world ! What devotion in the apostles, what 
patience in the martyrs, and what purity in the vir- 
gins! Where shall we look for the principle of all 
these wonders? We shall find it in the divine love 
with which the Holy Spirit filled their hearts. But 
you, oh, how weak you are, and how cowardly ! And 
whence comes it? Either you do not love at all or 
you do not love enough. Conjure the Holy Spirit, 



0)1 the Mystery. 193 

therefore, to come into your heart and to bless you ; 
ask of Him to plant His grace deeply in your heart, 
that He may make known to you all those titles 
which God has for your gratitude, and may that 
gratitude lead you to love. 
13 



TRINITY SUNDAY. 

OUR DUTIES TOWARDS THE TRINITY. 

Thirst Point, — You owe to the Holy Trinity the 
homage of your faith. There is not in Holy 
. . . Writ anything more strongly established than 
the mystery of one God in three persons. You 
shall find it expressed in the Gospel most clearly 
and most precise. 

At the moment when the Saviour received Bap- 
tism in the Jordan a voice from heaven is heard 
saying: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I 
am well pleased." At the same time the Holy 
Spirit, under the form of a dove, rested on the 
head of Jesus. Behold, the three adorable persons 
of the Blessed Trinity, perfectly distinct. Later 
on, when Jesus commanded His apostles to go and 
preach His Gospel throughout the world, He said to. 
them : " Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost." These words again reveal the exist- 
ence of the Holy Trinity. In fact, the design of 
Our Lord and Saviour was certainly not to baptize 
the faithful in any other name than that of God, 
and He indicates three persons in whose name He 
wishes Baptism to be given. Each of these three 
persons must, therefore, be truly God, and that 



Our Duties Towards the Trinity. 195 

could not be unless they were really and absolutely 
equal among themselves. 

There is but one God ; this is the foundation of 
our faith. But this same faith teaches you that the 
unity of God is fruitful; that the divine nature, 
without ceasing to be one, is communicated by the 
Father to the Son, and by the Father and the Son, 
to the Holy Spirit. Adore, with a respect wholly 
filial, the mysterious shadow under which God — 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — unveils His majesty 
to mortal eyes. Be faithful, and a day shall come 
when you shall contemplate Him without veil or 
shadow. 

Second Point, — You owe to the Trinity the hom- 
age of your respect. " The Holy Trinity is truly 
God, who reigns in the highest heavens and who 
fills the whole earth with His majesty. A Being 
infinitely perfect, to whom all honor, all praise, all 
glory is due for ever and ever." Strive, therefore, 
to mingle your voice in the concert of blessed 
spirits who in the heavenly city sing with un- 
speakable joy and in profoundest abasement: 
"Holy, holy, thrice holy is the God of armies!" 
With them adore the eternal Father, the principle 
of everything which exists; the eternal Son, equal 
to His Father; the Holy Spirit, equally eternal, and 
whom we cannot separate from the two other per- 
sons. To the three persons give the same worship, 
the same adoration; and when in God's temple 
you shall hear resounding these triumphant words, 
"Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the 



196 Trinity Sunday, 

Holy Ghost," unite your voice to the voice of the 
Church, and sing with enthusiasm to the glory of 
the august Trinity. 

Third Point, — You owe to the Holy Trinity the 
homage of your love. Everything, in the Church, 
is done in the name of the Trinity. It is in this 
name that the august sacrifice of the New Law is 
offered. The priest at the foot of the altar makes 
the sign of the cross while pronouncing the names 
of the three adorable Persons of the Holy Trinity. 
It is in this name that you have been regenerated 
at the sacred font of Baptism, and it is in this name 
that the priest restores you to grace in the Sacrament 
of Penance. The Church puts this sacred name on 
your lips at the beginning of all your prayers and 
all your acts, by these august words: '' In the name 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost." How often, perhaps, it has happened that 
you pronounced these words without thinking of 
what you said! Accustom yourself, therefore, to 
pronounce them henceforth with sentiments which 
should arise in every Christian heart. 

" In the name of the Father." He it is who has 
created us ; by a single word He could reduce this 
world to the nothingness from which He has drawn 
it. With what respect should we be filled when pro- 
nouncing a name which recalls such grandeur and 
so many blessings? ''In the name of the Son." 
This name recalls all that is tenderest in love, most 
generous in devotion, and most lovable in virtue. 
While pronouncing this ever-blessed name, you 



Ojtr Duties Tozuards the Trinity. 197 

place your hand on your heart, as if you would say 
to the Son that you love Him. Oh, may this sign be 
the expression of truth and not a vain ceremony ! 
''In the name of the Holy Ghost." It is the Holy 
Ghost who has sanctified the world; it is in Him, 
as the source, that grace dwells, or, rather, grace is 
nothing else than the Holy Spirit Himself. He re- 
sides in you as the pledge of your divine adoption; 
He prays for you in terms which no human tongue 
can express. When you speak His name, ask of 
Him the grace never to sadden His heart by resist- 
ing His holy inspirations. 

Fourth Point. — You owe it to the Holy Trinity to 
retrace their image in yourself. This image God 
Himself has deigned to engrave in your soul, since 
Holy Scripture tells you that God made man to His 
own image and likeness. If, by imposing silence 
on your senses, you consider yourself intimately 
for a few moments, you will easily find the traits of 
this glorious resemblance. Our soul is simple ; God 
is one, and still there are in Him three things really 
distinct. As the Father, our soul has being; as 
the Son, it has intelligence; as the Holy Ghost, it 
has love. Like the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost, our souls have in their being, in their intel- 
ligence, in their love the same happiness and the 
same life (Bossuet). This likeness, which is only 
commenced in us, must be perfected by retracing 
in our soul and in our conduct, as far as the weak- 
ness of our poor nature shall allow, the divine per- 
fections. It is to perform this glorious work that 



198 Trinity Sunday, 

Jesus calls us in these words: "Be ye perfect, as 
your heavenly Father is perfect/* And thus the 
Christian, on his way to perfection, can find no rest- 
ing-place: he must "grow constantly from virtue 
to virtue,*' until he arrives, as St. Paul says, to "the 
plenitude of the perfect man, which is in Christ 
Jesus." 

O my God, I love to contemplate Thee in the 
unity of Thy nature and in the Trinity of Thy per- 
sons. No mystery reveals to me better than this 
one Thy grandeur and my nothingness. The less 
I understand Thee, the more I adore Thee. The 
most worthy use I can make of my reason is to an- 
nihilate myself before Thee. It is the joy of my 
mind, the charm of my weakness to feel myself 
overwhelmed by Thy greatness. May I, O my 
God, by my fidelity in adoring Thee in the shadows 
of faith, merit to contemplate Thee face to face, and 
without veil or shadow., in the city of the elect. 



CORPUS CHRISTI. 

THE INSTITUTION OF THE FEAST AND OUR DUTIES. 

\ A/E celebrate to-day one of the most beautiful 
feasts of the Catholic Church. Let us medi- 
. . . tate on the motives which have induced the 
Church to institute it, and the duties it imposes 
on us. 

First Point, — Motives of the Church in instituting 
the feast of Corpus Christi. The principal motive 
of the Church in instituting a feast in which she 
surrounds the God of the Eucharist with so much 
magnificence, when she commands her ministers to 
carry Him in triumph about the streets of cities and 
villages, is to make Him reparation for all the out- 
rages that He receives in the august sacrament of 
His love on the part of bad Christians. Jesus, 
having wished to constitute Himself a prisoner of 
love in the holy tabernacles; Jesus, having given 
us the sacrament of His body and blood for our 
nourishment, our support, and our consolation here 
below, should only receive the homage of our ad- 
oration and the tribute of our gratitude. Instead 
of this He is often the object of outrages which 
are most painful to His heart, by profanations, 
sacrileges, and the irreverences of which we make 
ourselves guilty. In consequence of these prof- 



200 Corpus Christi. 

anations, the Holy Eucharist, instituted essen- 
tially to honor the body of the Saviour, becomes for 
this very body a mystery of humiliation and ig- 
nominy. Yes, the body of the Saviour suffers from 
us in the Eucharist a thousand times more than 
it suffered on the part of the Jews in His Passion ! 
In the Passion He only suffered for a time, but here 
He is exposed to suffer to the end of time. In His 
Passion He suffered only as much as Jesus wished 
it, and because He wished it, but here He suffers, 
so to speak, by violence and by force. If He suf- 
fered in His passion. He was in a state of suffering 
and mortal nature, but here He suffers in a state of 
impassibility. What He suffered in His Passion 
was glorious to God and salutary for man, but here 
what He suffers is injurious to man and to God. 
What a powerful motive to awaken and excite all 
your piety for this great mystery ? 

This feast is one of gratitude for the voluntary 
humiliations of Jesus in the Eucharist. Place your- 
self for a moment at the foot of the tabernacle 
which contains your God, and strive to understand 
to what humiliations He has devoted Himself for 
love of you. Humiliations in the solitude to which 
He is condemned. When He was born at Bethlehem 
He had the two cherubim of the manger to adore 
Him, Mary and Joseph, then the shepherds, and, 
finally, the Wise Men; here almost always He is 
alone. His temples are deserted, a solitary lamp 
which swings before the tabernacle is only too often 
the only homage He receives. Humiliations in the 



Tlie histitution of the Feast and Our Duties. 201 

obscurity of His eucharistic life. He is concealed 
in the tabernacle ; He lives there unknown to the 
world, as He once lived in the house of Joseph. 
Humiliations in His state of dependence. Even as 
formerly He was submissive to Joseph and Mary, 
so in the Eucharist He is submissive to the com- 
mands of the priest. The priest calls Him from 
heaven and causes Him to descend ; he encloses Him 
in the tabernacle and makes Him come out from it; 
he takes Him in his hands, lifts Him up, puts Him 
down, carries Him to the sick, distributes Him to 
the people, gives Him to children and even to sin- 
ners. Jesus obeys, and always obeys. Humilia- 
tions in His state of annihilation. Was there ever 
one more complete? At Bethlehem, He was born 
in a state of complete indigence. The humanity 
veiled the divinity, but a miraculous star revealed 
His presence; if He leads in the midst of the peo- 
ple a painful and laborious life, in contempt and 
contradictions, all His steps are marked by prodigies 
and His humiliations do not conceal the Master of 
the world, since He is recognized by His miracles. 
If He dies on the cross. His last sigh makes the 
world tremble, and countless prodigies reveal in 
the dying man the Son of the Most High. But 
how shall we recognize a God in the God of our 
temples? 

In the Holy Eucharist, Jesus not only conceals 
His divinity, but His very humanity has disap- 
peared, and we see realized the words of the apostle 
with especial energy: '' He is annihilated." On to- 



202 Corpus Christi. 

day the Church strives to efface many humilia- 
tions; she does not wish that the God of the Eu- 
charist should be an unknown God ; she withdraws 
Him from the sanctuary where He reposes, from 
the enclosure of the temples which contain Him ; 
she carries Him through the streets of the cities, 
she adores and avows Him as her God. In fine, 
to set off the display of triumph destined to her 
King, she puts forth all that is majestic in her 
august ceremonies, the most sumptuous in her 
treasures; she strips the earth of its flowers; she 
borrows from profane vanity its luxury and its 
pomp, happy to testify to her heavenly Spouse 
her love and her gratitude. 

Second Point, — Our duties on this blessed day. 
The occupation of a Christian soul on this solem- 
nity should be to enter into the sentiments of the 
Church, and with her to honor the body of the Sav- 
iour. And what is it to honor the body of the Sav- 
iour? It is to give Him all the worship which it can 
receive from us in the Sacrament of the Altar. It is 
to imitate Magdalene, who had a particular zeal for 
this sacred body, watering it with her tears, wiping 
it with her hair, and spreading on it sweetest per- 
fumes. After her example, you should often pros- 
trate yourself in the presence of this sacred body, 
and there offer to it a thousand sacrifices of praise, 
a thousand interior adorations, a thousand homages, 
and a thousand acts of thanksgiving. You should 
say to it sometimes, with a lively faith and with 
ardent devotion : '' Divine Body, Thou hast been the 



The Institution of the Feast and Our Duties, 203 

price of my salvation ; what should I not do to glorify 
Thee ? The heretic despises Thee, the impious out- 
rage Thee, but as for me, O my God, I am happy to 
offer to Thee the incense of my prayer and the hom- 
age of my love/* Such are the sentiments which 
should animate you ; and because the body of Jesus 
shall be to-day carried in triumph, your duty is to 
contribute to the pomp of this triumph, and to all 
the extent of your power. You are so fond of a 
thousand superfluities which serve only for luxury 
and vanity; there it is that you can sanctify them, 
by consecrating them to the body of your God, by 
employing them to enrich the vessels which con- 
tain Him and to embellish the tabernacles where 
He is enclosed, and to adorn His oratories where He 
remains. You are so careful of your bodies; you 
love so much to adorn them and to clothe them, 
and for this purpose you spare no expense ! But 
your body, that body infected by sin, that body 
which shall soon be only dust and corruption — 
should it be dearer to you than the body of Christ? 
In fine, because the body of the Son of God is 
taken out of its temples and carried in triumph, 
what does the Christian soul do? She follows Him 
in His triumph and gives herself as an escort. 
This is what the Spirit of God divinely expresses 
in the spouse of the canticles. She says she has 
sought her well-beloved in the place where he is 
accustomed to take his repose; but, she adds, not 
having found him, she has taken the resolution to go 
out, to go into the streets and places of the city to 



204 Corpus Christi, 

seek him. The guards and the officers of the city 
have met her; she perceives him in their midst, and 
at once she runs to him and she does not leave 
him until she has led him to the house of her 
mother. This spouse is the faithful soul. To-day 
she seeks the Saviour of the world in His tabernacle, 
and she does not find Him there. She then goes 
through the streets and public places to see if He 
shall be there. He is there ; in fact, she meets Him 
surrounded by guards and ministers who carry 
Him with honor, and the whole people make His 
cotmtless court. She casts herself at His feet, she 
adores Him, she follows Him with her eyes, she 
does not leave Him until He enters the temple, 
w^hich is really the house of her mother. Imitate 
her, and strive to pay to your adorable King the 
just tribute of your love and your gratitude. 



SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

THE REAL PRESENCE OF JESUS IN THE BLESSED 
EUCHARIST. 

T^HE Church has fixed the feast of the Blessed 
Sacrament for the first Thursday after Trinity 
. . . Sunday, and thus she affords her children 
every facility of testifying their gratitude to the 
God of the Eucharist. During eight days this 
adorable Master shall come from His tabernacle 
and shall be exposed to your gaze, as if He would 
come closer and closer to you. Oh, how poorly you 
understand your soul's best interest if you fail to 
respond to this lovable condescension ! To-day 
reanimate your faith by meditating on the proofs 
which demonstrate the real presence of Jesus in the 
Blessed Eucharist. These proofs are of two kinds: 
proofs of reason and theological proofs. 

First Point, — The proofs of reason which demon- 
strate the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacra- 
ment are taken from the absurd consequences of the 
contrary doctrine. If the Protestants are right in 
declaring that Jesus is in figure and not in reality 
in the Holy Eucharist, then Christianity — this re- 
ligion so pure in its moral and so sublime in its 
dogma, and having all the characters of divinity — 
was, from the beginning, the most monstrous and 



2o6 Second Sunday after Pentecost. 

most extravagant religion. It merits justly all the 
reproaches of superstition, idolatry, and foolishness 
lavished on paganism. See all the disciples of 
Christ, foolish victims of error, having at their head 
their doctors, their venerable prelates, lights of the 
world by their science and by their virtue, prostra- 
ting themselves before bread, which is only a vain 
image, and adoring it as the Egyptians formerly 
adored the fruits of their gardens. Calvin, who had 
come to undeceive the world, merited divine honors 
much more than Jesus; he should be regarded as 
the benefactor of humanity, while Jesus would be 
only an impostor. 

In fact, either Jesus foresaw the false interpreta- 
tion which would be given to His words, " This is 
My body, this is My blood,*' or He did not foresee 
it. If He foresaw it, He should have hindered it ; 
otherwise He has deceived His apostles, His 
friends, and His Church. He has left her in error 
during fifteen centuries, and He has failed in His 
promises of being wath her to the end of time. If 
He did not foresee those false interpretations, He 
is not God ; He is only a cheat and an impostor. 
And thus the denial of the Real Presence carries 
with it the denial of all religion. These monstrous 
consequences should suffice to make us reject as 
false and impious the doctrine which begets them. 
But these are not all. 

By the interpretation of Protestants, St. Paul is 
convicted of absurdity. In his First Epistle to the 
Corinthians he formally declares that he is guilty 



Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. 207 

of outrage against the body of Jesus who should 
dare to receive the eucharistic bread unworthily. 
Are these words, which are so true in a Catholic 
sense, anything else than an absurdity in the Prot- 
estant sense? If Jesus is not really in the Eu- 
charist, or if He is there only in figure, or if the 
bread is eaten only in faith, can he who partici- 
pates in this mystery unworthily be wanting in re- 
spect for Jesus. Does he abuse His goodness ? How 
are we to understand that such a one outrages the 
body of Christ? Besides, if it is faith which attracts 
Jesus in the Eucharist, to the Jew or an unbeliever 
not having faith the Eucharist is only a piece of 
ordinary bread ; and how can a piece of bread be 
profaned ? 

St. Paul has said that the glory of the Old Law 
was nothing when compared with the sublimity of 
the Gospel. By the interpretation of Protestants 
these words are false. In fact, if the body of the 
Saviour is not in the Eucharist, all the excellence 
and advantage are on the side of the manna. This 
bread falls from heaven ; it is prepared by angel 
hands, wholly miraculous and diversified in an in- 
finity of tastes ; it is a figure of Jesus far more 
worthy and more noble than the material bread 
made by the hands of men, if this bread even after 
consecration was only a figure. We must say the 
same of the ancient sacrifices, and in particular of 
the paschal lamb, whose blood was an image of the 
blood of Jesus more natural than wine, and espe- 
cially a more lively and touching image. Contrary 



2o8 Second Sunday after Pentecost, 

to the words of St. Paul, the Gospel, in this matter, 
would be inferior to the Old Law and the Church in- 
ferior to the synagogue. Reason rejects such a 
consequence, and it forces us to recognize the Real 
Presence or to accept the most monstrous absurdi- 
ties. 

Second Point. — The theological proofs are taken 
from the very words which Jesus employed in the 
institution of the Blessed Eucharist: "This is My 
body, this is My blood/* Reflect on these words, 
and say if the Saviour could employ expressions 
more precise to affirm His real presence. The Prot- 
estants who deny it pretend that here the language 
of Jesus is figurative and that His words must be 
taken in a metaphorical sense. As if the Saviour 
had said : " This is the figure of My body ; this is 
the figure of My blood.*' The falsity of such an 
interpretation is evident from the very circum- 
stances in which the words were pronounced. 
Jesus was about to die; at that solemn moment one 
shall hardly em^ploy language which is figurative 
and almost unintelligible, and especially when one 
speaks to friends who are the depositaries of his last 
will. The Saviour of the world was making His 
last will and testament, and He bequeathed to the 
Church His body and His blood — all that He pos- 
sessed. The very essence of a last will and testa- 
ment is that it shall be expressed in clearest terms 
and exempt from all ambiguity ; the law requires 
that the words of such a testament should be ac- 
cepted in their natural and literal sense. Has it 



Real Presence of Jesics in the Eucharist. 209 

ever been heard of that the terms of a last will 
should be interpreted in a figurative sense? But 
what is the evident meaning of these words : " This 
is My body, this is My blood"? Is it the meaning 
which the Church gives them by taking them in 
their literal sense? Is it the meaning which her- 
etics give them when they assert that they signify, 
This is the figure of My body? But how can this 
last interpretation be justified ? There are in the 
world two kinds of vSigns, viz., natural signs and 
signs of convention. Now, a piece of bread has 
never been the natural sign of a body ; on the other 
hand, there is not in the Gospel a single word which 
ever fell from the lips of Jesus which has made it 
a conventional sign. Jesus had warned His dis- 
ciples that He would speak to them no longer in 
parables. His words should therefore be accepted 
in their natural sense, and every other interpreta- 
tion is purely arbitrary and finds no foundation 
anywhere. 

Behold the last will and testament of the Saviour, 
and the things He has bequeathed us. They are 
all contained in these words, which assure to the 
Catholic priesthood the power of renewing, to the 
end of the world, what He Himself did the first 
time. "Do this in commemoration of Me." The 
priest, in virtue of these words pronounced over 
the bread and the wine, "This is My body, this is 
My blood," operates this mystery, the substance of 
the bread and wine disappears, and they become the 
body and blood of Jesus. 
14 



2IO Second Sunday after Pentecost. 

What simplicity, as Bossuet remarks, and what 
omnipotent power in these few words ! After such 
assurance on the part of the Saviour, what remains 
for us to do if not to believe, and adore, and love? 
He says that it is His body, therefore it is His 
body; He says that it is His blood, therefore it is 
His blood ! My Saviour, be forever blessed for this 
favor! Thou hast wished to be Thyself the inheri- 
tance of Thy children, and Thy love knows how to 
survive death, in discovering the secret of eternal- 
izing Thy presence in the midst of them. 



THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

DEVOTION TO THE SACRED HEART. 

\A/E celebrate to-day the feast of the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus. Let us enter into the senti- 
. . . ments of the Church by meditating on the 
object of this feast and the duties which it imposes. 
First Point. — By instituting the feast of the 
Sacred Heart, the Church has wished to honor the 
immense love with which the heart of God has 
burned for us, and to eternalize the memory of it. 
In fact, the heart is the seat of the affections and 
the principle of generous devotion. To establish 
a feast in honor of the heart of Jesus is, therefore, 
to erect a monument which shall recall the sacri- 
fices which the love of Jesus for men has imposed 
on Him. And what is more natural than such an 
institution ? To console herself for the loss of her 
cherished child, a mother retains a part of his 
clothing. A child, to solace his sorrow, erects a 
suitable monument to the memory of the mother 
whom he has lost ; a people set free from slavery 
wish to preserve the generous heart of the liberator 
whom death has removed from their gratitude ; in 
fact, it seems that while these precious pledges 
keep their regrets alive, they still sweeten their bit- 
terness. The feast of the Sacred Heart is a monu- 



212 Third Sunday after Pentecost, 

ment which must constantly recall the love and the 
blessings of our divine Saviour. In the Eucharist 
we adore not only His divine nature, but also His 
body and blood; by a particular feast we vener- 
ate His adorable wounds and the very thorns 
with which His sacred brow was crowned, the nails 
which pierced His hands and feet, and the cross on 
which He expired. How then shall Vv^e refuse our 
homages to this Sacred Heart, the noblest and ten- 
derest portion of His sacred humanity? 

All blessings have come to us from this divine 
Heart. By the mouth of Jesus it has published 
those evangelical truths which teach us the way to 
heaven. It was the heart of Jesus that wept over 
Lazarus in the tomb, and over the ill-fated city of 
Jerusalem — sad figures of a soul stained by sin. It 
was His heart which prompted Him to heal the sick 
and call the children to Him, and to pardon sinners 
and raise the dead to life. It was His heart which 
poured out its bloody sweat from every part of His 
body in the Garden of Olives. If it is true that one 
deserves to be loved in proportion as they love, 
what love does not our adorable Saviour merit? 

Open the Gospel and judge of it for yourself. 
How amiable He is when He compares Himself to 
a Father who weeps for very joy at seeing His prodi- 
gal son return; when He depicts Himself to us 
under the image of the Good Shepherd who seeks 
for His lost sheep; when He pardons the woman 
taken in the commission of sin, and when He allows 
the vilest sinners to approach Him. Whom do you 



Devotion to the Sacred Heart. 213 

see at His feet? Magdalene, a public sinner. And 
on whom does He bestow His tenderness and mild- 
ness? On the poor children whom He caresses. 
He meets with a widow who mourns the loss of her 
only son, and His heart is touched with pity and 
He commands death to give back its victim. Be- 
hold Him at Jacob's well, conversing with the 
Samaritan woman and revealing to her the secret 
of His divinity. Is it possible to manifest more 
merciful tenderness? 

But behold the masterpiece of His love! Before 
the Good Shepherd had given His life for His flock, 
He had given them His heart, by instituting the 
Blessed Eucharist. Other shepherds provide food 
for themselves from their flock, but Jesus gives 
Himself to His sheep to be their nourishment: 
*'Eat, this is My body, drink, this is My blood.** 
And He shall remain with them till the end of time 
to sustain and console them. " Come to Me, all you 
who are heavily laden, all you that suffer, come to 
Me whosoever you may be, and I shall refresh you." 
Where shall you find love more constant, words 
that are sweeter, or invitation more pressing? You 
are worthy of pity if these thoughts do not reach 
your heart. 

Second Point, — To suitably honor the heart of 
Jesus, three conditions are necessary: We should 
invoke it with confidence, imitate it with fidelity, 
and love it generously. 

Invoke it with confidence. It is the heart of a 
friend, and you could not doubt it for a moment, 



214 Third Sunday after Pentecost, 

especially after reflecting on what has just been told 
you. You shall seek in vain to find a heart that 
loves you with more devotion. But besides, it is 
the heart of a God. You may doubt the constancy 
of some mortal friend and you may suspect his 
fidelity; you may exhaust his kindness, for every 
human love is inconstant and all human goodness 
has limits; but the heart of a God! ah, no. When 
human friendship fails, His friendship shall never 
fail and is the only one worth striving for. How 
often does mistrust and suspicion invade our hearts 
and wound the Sacred Heart of Jesus! We think 
that we shall never acquire piety, or overcome cer- 
tain defects, or conquer certain temptations; w^e 
think, therefore, that Jesus does not love us suffi- 
ciently to help us, or that He is not powerful enough 
to defend us against the demon ! Be on your guard 
against such despairing thoughts. They are one of 
the most dangerous temptations, especially in cer- 
tain circumstances, w^hen a great confidence can 
alone give us the strength to overcome every ob- 
stacle. 

You should imitate the heart of Jesus if you wish 
to honor it worthily. To imitate the heart of Jesus 
is to copy it. Now, when you wish to copy a 
picture, you must first study it. To copy the heart 
of Jesus, the first thing to do is to strive to know it 
well. The god of philosophers is known by the 
prodigies and wonders which come from his hands, 
but the God of the humble Christian is knovvm es- 
pecially by His blessings. 



Devotion to the Sacred Heart, 215 

The dove selects the rocks of the deserts in which 
to build her dwelling, but the faithful soul chooses 
the heart of Jesus, in which she retires and there 
reflects in secret. In the heart of Jesus she beholds 
her own ; she contrasts the thoughts, the affections, 
and the desires of Jesus with her own desires, affec- 
tions, and thoughts. In the heart of Jesus she finds 
humility, chastity, charity, patience, love of the 
cross, and zeal for souls; but in her own heart she 
finds pride, sensuality, jealousy, love of pleasures, 
and inconstancy; she strives to dispel all these 
vicious dispositions and exemplify the virtues of her 
divine Model. Jesus smiles on her efforts, and sus- 
tains them by His grace. 

You should love the heart of Jesus. The only 
request which Jesus makes, the only gift that He 
would receive from us, is the possession of our 
heart. "My son,'' He says to you, "give Me thy 
heart." And here let us ask, what is our heart, 
that Jesus asks for it so earnestly? What treasure 
is concealed there? It is because the most precious 
of all gifts is the heart, and it renders every other 
gift precious. But is it not something more? Yes, 
since to possess the heart is the glorious triumph. 
Everywhere the victory for Jesus was easy. He 
walked on the waters. He healed the sick, He com- 
manded the elements; in a word, nothing could re- 
sist His power. It was only in the heart He found 
resistance, and now He considers it His glory to 
conquer it. Thus, all His efforts tend to gain the 
hearts of men. In the crib, His tears ; on the cross, 



2i6 Third Sunday after Pentecost, 

His sufferings; in the Eucharist, His humiliations 
— everything to win human hearts to Himself. 
Christian, God asks your love, shall you dare to re- 
fuse it to Him? It is absolutely necessary that 
your heart should be given to some one, since it 
cannot live without loving, nor can it love without 
bestowing itself on the object of its love. If your 
heart is to be given or sold, who can better purchase 
it than He who made it? If it is to be given away, 
who deserves it better than He who is its happiness 
and its end ? Give your heart to Jesus, and ask Him 
to accept it and to watch over it, to-day and for- 
ever. 



FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

ON THE CHURCH. 

npHE Gospel of to-day contains a grand and beau- 
tiful instruction. If we reflect upon it well, 
. . . we shall find in it all the prerogatives which 
distinguish the bark of Peter, that is to say, the 
Holy Roman Catholic Church, and the signs which 
manifest our love for her. 

First Point, — "And Jesus, going up into one of 
the ships, which was Peter's." If Jesus entered 
the bark of Peter, it was not by chance He did so. 
He has wished to teach us that if we would find this 
bark we must seek it in the Church which Peter 
and his successors conduct and govern. The ship 
of which Peter is the head is the only one which 
carries Christ ; the others are not with Him nor is 
He with them. They do not carry His doctrine to 
the different parts of the world ; they carry only the 
sad inventions of men. Thus the Lutherans, the 
Calvinists, the Greeks, and the Anglicans are not 
the Church of Jesus, because they are not in the 
bark of Peter. The true Church is one in its doc- 
trine, in its worship, in its hierarchy, while the 
others change their morale, their creed, and their 
worship according to caprice, to climate, and to the 



2i8 Four til Sunday after Pentecost, 

passions of men. In their eternal variations and in 
their multiplied creeds they openly contradict Jesus, 
who, in praying for His Church, said to His Father: 
''Keep them, that they may be one, as you and I 
are one/* 

The Holy Roman Catholic Church, which is your 
mother, since it is from her bosom you have drawn 
your Christian life, possesses unity of doctrine, and, 
although she has countless children scattered over 
all the countries of the world, she everywhere 
teaches to all the same doctrine ; among the sav- 
ages as well as in civilized countries, to the chil- 
dren of the king as well as to the children of the 
poor, and she owes this unity of belief to her hier- 
archy divinely instituted. The Sovereign Pontiff 
has received, in the person of the Prince of the 
apostles, the mission to ''confirm his brethren in 
the faith/' and as a vigilant sentinel he watches 
over the integrity of the faith and repudiates every 
change in it. Think, for an instant, on this phe- 
nomenon of the unity of faith, in the multiplicity of 
the faithful ! Two men cannot be in accord for a 
quarter of an hour, and yet millions of men during 
nineteen centuries believe the same truths and 
without discussion submit their intelligence tothe 
same faith. How can this wonder be explained? 
Represent to yourself a man seated on a rock in 
the midst of the ocean, and insisting that the waves 
should observe a uniform motion. You would ex- 
claim: "This is truly a wonder.'' Well, there is a 
man who, from his seat on the rock on which Jesus 



On the Church. 219 

has built His Church, commands disturbed minds 
and insists on a uniform method of thinking, and 
that man is the Pope. At his feet he beholds the 
rise and flow of human opinions which disturb and 
overthrow everything in the world, while he does 
not change, and by his authority he maintains unity 
in the Church. Is it possible not to see the finger 
of God in all this? 

Jesus in the bark of Peter confirms the truth of 
His words in the wonder of the miraculous fishing. 
Thus He has granted to His Church, and to her 
only, the grace of working miracles in all ages and 
in all countries. This is the divine mark by 
which we recognize the bark of Peter. The flight 
of demons, the resurrection of the dead, the gift of 
prophecy, and the healing of those who were hope- 
lessly sick — this is what you shall find on every 
page of the Church's history. While the apos- 
tolic men proclaimed God's truths. He confirmed 
their preaching by miracles. A miracle is a pal- 
pable, invincible proof; it is the seal of God placed 
on the divine word sent from heaven to earth. By 
the gift of miracles God tells us : It is I who have 
sent these men, and the proof of it is that I have 
clothed them with My power, and if they had not 
been sent by Me would nature obey them ? " God, " 
says Bossuet, " has the right to make Himself be- 
lieved, and also the means to make Himself heard. 
As soon as an affirmation is signed by these two 
words, 'I the Lord,' and as soon as that signature 
is legalized by His inimitable seal — the miracle — it 



2 20 Fourth Sunday after Pentecost. 

is He who speaks, it is He who commands, and we 
have only to believe and obey/* 

Jesus commanded Peter to launch his bark out 
into the deep. What does this mean? It indicates 
the exalted life, wholly supernatural and heavenly, 
to which the Church, by her doctrine, by her morale, 
and by the omnipotent power of her sacraments, 
leads us. In her fold, and there only, we behold the 
divine virtues brightl}^ shining and men rising to 
the highest degree of sanctity and perfection. Is 
this character of sanctity found among the dissent- 
ing sects? No, in this regard God has struck them 
with an eternal sterility, and you shall never find 
among them a single man who, by his heroic vir- 
tues, has won the admiration of the world, as a St. 
Francis de Sales, a Vincent de Paul, a St. Charles 
Borromeo, and others. 

The deep waters to which Peter was commanded 
to go represent those regions of the world which 
are most distant. The Saviour seemed to say to 
Peter: "I shall place under your shepherd*s staff 
all the nations of the earth. You shall preach the 
Gospel to every creature, you shall guide the sin- 
ners back to the fold, you shall convert the pagans, 
and of all the people you shall make but one sheep- 
fold, one flock, of which you shall be the only shep- 
herd.'* And so Catholic Rome extends her activity 
over the whole world — in the islands of America 
and Oceanica, among the most uncivilized people 
of Africa as well as among the polished cities of 
Europe, everywhere Peter baptizes, preaches, and 



On the Church. 221 

converts souls, and, whatever may be the obstacles, 
he shall always continue until he shall have landed 
in the haven of safety the last soul that shall ever 
live on earth. 

It is recorded in the Gospel that the bark of Peter 
was almost submerged. The Church also has been 
exposed from time to time by tempests so formi- 
dable that her enemies have said : '' It is all over for 
the Church,'* and her friends trembled while ex- 
pecting to see her engulfed by the flood of human 
passions. But they who hoped and they who feared 
for the ruin of the Church did not know the extent 
of the promises which Jesus had made to His 
Church when He said : " The gates of hell shall 
not prevail against her.*' Relying on this promise, 
true Catholics entertain no fear for the Church; 
they know that Jesus is with her, that He conducts 
her, He prays for her, and that sooner or later she 
shall come forth triumphant from all her trials. 
The past gives assurance for the future. A brutal 
and barbarous persecution passed over the Church 
during three hundred years, and the Church tri- 
umphed in the conversion of her executioners. 
Heresies then followed ; they were reduced to help- 
lessness, while she remains full of life and prosper- 
ous, and the branches which have separated from 
her languish and ultimately die. The war of pas- 
sions, pride, pleasure, and impiety arises in every 
age ; the attacks are so violent that the bark of Peter 
is rudely shaken, but she is never submerged. 
The enemies of the Church die penitent or impeni- 



222 Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, 

tent, and silence promptly falls about their tombs, 
and the Church stands erect on the ruins of her op- 
pressors. This perpetuity of the Church, in the 
midst of the instability of human things, is one of 
the most striking proofs of the divinity of her 
origin. O Church of God, my mother, I am devoted 
to you from the depths of my heart, I wish to love 
you and obey you, and to remain faithful to you 
until death. Guide me, enlighten me, and conduct 
me to the haven of salvation. 



FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

ON CHRISTIAN JUSTICE. 

JESUS, in the Gospel of to-day, warns you that if 
your piety would be agreeable to God, it must 
excel the justice of the Pharisees. He re- 
proaches these hypocritical men, by declaring that 
all their justice was most culpable since it was 
purely exterior, wholly incomplete, and most inter- 
ested. 

First Point, — The justice of the Pharisees was 
wholly exterior. Jesus said to them: "You are 
careful to cleanse the exterior of the cup regardless 
of what is within it,'* and for this reason He calls 
them "whited sepulchres.'* St. Luke also speaks 
of the justice of the Pharisees : '' I am not as the 
rest of men.'* In what do you excel, vain and 
proud man ? "I fast twice in the week and I pay 
the tenth of all I possess.** He boasts only of his 
external works, and they that resemble him are 
attached only to the external observances. The 
Pharisee does not abandon or despise the practices 
of piety, or the ceremonies of religion. Exterior 
worship is a duty, and the sloth or false shame 
which makes us neglect it is a sin. But it is quite 
another thing to be engaged solely in exterior 



2 24 Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, 

works of piety, and to put aside the virtues which 
are in the soul ; this is really to possess a phari- 
saical justice. 

If your piety be true, it must be united to virtue. 
To be pious without being virtuous is to cleanse the 
outside of the cup without putting in it the perfume 
which must attract the pleasure of God; it is to 
resemble those whited sepulchres of which the 
Saviour spoke, which appeared beautiful in the eyes 
of men, but which were within full of dead bones 
and corruption. If, therefore, you wish that your 
worship may be an act of adoration, and not a false- 
hood, it must be the expression of your interior 
sentiments ; otherwise you shall merit this reproach 
of the Saviour : " These people honor me with their 
lips, but their hearts are far from me.'' Yes, says 
Bossuet, to say prayers, to go to church, assist at 
the holy sacrifice, to take holy water, and to kneel 
without having the spirit of all this, is pharisaical 
justice. It seems to have some exactitude, but it 
is reprobated by God, who wishes to have, particu- 
larly, the homage of the heart. 

Is this deceitful piety, which was so common in 
the Mosaic law, very rare in the Church of Jesus 
Christ ? Alas, how many Christians pride themselves 
on their regularity, and place all their perfection in 
the fulfilment of the exterior duties which religion 
commands, while they neglect what is most imperi- 
ously commanded — to restrain their temper, regu- 
late their inclinations, and repress their passions! 
How many are considered as devout people because 



On Christian Justice. 225 

they are assiduous in the temple, and who are vain, 
sensual, angry, and detractors? They are scrupu- 
lous at the slightest neglect in their habits of devo- 
tion, but they have no remorse for their numerous 
defects. The reason of this inversion of principles 
is not easily understood. The external practices 
are not so difficult as the exercise of interior virtue ; 
the performance of some acts costs less than self- 
reformation. We, therefore, abandon the duties 
which require combats against ourselves, to indulge 
in practices which are more to our tastes. Guard 
well against this deceitful piety, which will hope- 
lessly ruin you because it forms in you a conscience 
which is truly false. 

Second Point, — The justice of the Pharisee was 
incomplete. True justice, that which shone in the 
lives of the saints, is an act of obedience and fidelity 
to all the commandments: it fulfilled all the law. 
Jesus has said : " He that loves Me shall keep My 
commandments.'* He did not say some of My 
commandments, nor for some time only, but all 
the commandments, and always, and at every age. 
The Pharisees chose, according to their caprice, 
those commandments which were convenient for 
them. They practised certain observances which 
were to their taste, and neglected the most essen- 
tial precepts. This is the reproach which Jesus 
made to them, and with a severity of language 
which clearly shows the indignation with which 
this vicious piety inspired Him. "Woe to you, 
Pharisees, hypocrites, because you are exact in 
35 



226 Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, 

paying tithes, you are faithful in observing certain 
legal ceremonies, and you forget the essential duties 
of justice, charity and mercy/* 

The Pharisees considered it a crime to gather a 
bundle of straw on the Sabbath day, while on that 
same day they formed intrigues against Jesus. 
They took care to wash their hands before their 
repasts, and charged the apostles with a crime for 
neglecting this practice ; but at the same time they 
violated the precept which commanded them to 
honor father and mother. This is certainly a 
strange combination of piety and sin which can be 
explained only with difficulty. If we are unfaithful 
in little things, and stand firm in greater matters, 
this would be a consequence of our poor human 
frailty ; but that we should discover a piety whose 
character is to be exact even to scrupulosity in little 
things, and to neglect things which are essential, is 
one of the grossest illusions. But it is so frequent 
that it cannot be guarded against too much. Look 
upon it as one of the pitfalls which the demon places 
for souls which he sees strongly attached to virtue. 
If he tempted them to commit sin, these souls 
would reject the temptation with horror. Having 
no hope to seduce them, he strives to lead them 
astray. He employs, however, the contrary means. 
It is through their very taste for piety that he 
tempts them. He places before their eyes the 
means of apparent perfection, but not real, and in- 
spires them with an unwise ardor in their exercise. 
Because these practices are to their taste, they re- 



On Christian Justice, 227 

main faithful to them nevertheless. And one of 
the scandals of the world, one of the reproaches 
which irreligion urges against piety, is to behold 
true obligations, those which the profession of 
piety imposes and which justice and charity pre- 
scribe, sacrificed to false duties. 

To avoid all illusion, we must distinguish well 
between what is only mere counsel and what is of 
precept ; between the things which are of simple 
perfection and those which are of rigorous obliga- 
tion. We should be faithful to the first through 
love, and to the others through duty. To do that 
which is only a counsel and to neglect that which 
is a precept is the sign of a false devotion ; to do 
only that which is of precept and to despise what 
is merely of counsel is a sign of slothfulness ; but 
to faithfully attend to both, the precept and the 
counsel, is indeed perfection. 

Third Point. — The justice of the Pharisees was 
interested. They sought only the esteem of men, 
and cared little for the esteem of God. They prayed 
to be seen, they gave alms to be applauded, and 
they fasted to earn for themselves the reputation 
of being just men. Men, charmed by all their ex- 
ternal beauty, honored and venerated them; but 
Jesus, who read their hearts, exclaimed : " Woe to 
you, hypocrites, who pretend to pray in public, and 
who sound the trumpet when you distribute alms, 
you have already received your reward.*' But is 
your virtue really exempt from that gross pride 
which was the only motive of the Pharisee ; is it 



2 28 Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, 

wholly disinterested? Pride is very subtle, and 
there are many little winding ways by which it 
enters our soul. 

That your piety may be disinterested it is neces- 
sary in all you do — prayers, alms, good works, con- 
fessions, communions — that you should have but 
the single intention of pleasing God ; every other 
motive shall be a stain on your soul, if it be not 
completely effaced. And now, is your piety truly 
disinterested ? Indeed, it is not a hypocritical piety, 
but is it truly God, only, you seek in your devotion? 
Is it He or His consolations? Is it the thought that 
you wish to honor God which makes you desire to 
receive holy communion so often, or that prompts 
your prayer on certain days ? Or is it because you 
find a certain pleasure in the performance of these 
exercises of devotion? If God should withdraw 
that sensible pleasure you experience, would you 
continue to pray and approach the sacraments? 
Have these exercises of devotion ceased to be 
agreeable to the heart of God when they ceased to 
be consoling to you? Then it is not for God that 
you have been virtuous and faithful; it was for 
yourself. We should fear the anathema hurled by 
our divine Saviour against the Pharisees: "They 
have already received their reward/' 



SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

CONFIDENCE IN GOD. 

\ A/HILE meditating on the different circnni- 
stances of this day's Gospel, 5^ou shall find 
... in it the great foundations of Christian con- 
fidence, viz., the knowledge of God, His goodness, 
and His power. 

First Point, — The knowledge of God is the first 
foundation of our confidence in Him. See, by the 
Gospel of to-day, how all that concerns us is of 
greatest concern to Jesus, in the past, the present, 
and the future. For the past: Jesus reminds His 
disciples that during three days the people fol- 
lowed Him. He therefore knows how long we 
have served Him, and He has counted all the mo- 
ments. Our divine Saviour adds: "Some of them 
have come from afar." Not only does He count 
the time, but He knows all that it has cost us to 
come to Him — the temptations we have resisted, 
the obstacles we have overcome, and the sacrifices 
we have imposed on ourselves. There is not a step 
taken for Him that He has not seen and which 
He does not remember. Ah, how sweet it is to 
serve a Master who knows so well all that we have 
done for Him ! 

For the present : Jesus warns His disciples that 



230 Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, 

the people are in great need and that He has not 
wherewith to nourish them. Whatsoever may be 
the situation in which we are, God sees us and knows 
all our needs ; He knows our misery and our pov- 
erty, our losses and our misfortunes, our afflictions 
and our pains, our temptations and our weakness, 
our spiritual and temporal wants. Men do not 
know them, and often they wish neither to know 
them nor to believe them. Why then do you place 
your confidence in men, and not in God alone? 
Why do you not seek your consolation in this 
sweet thought, that God sees everything and knows 
everything ? 

For the future, Jesus reminds the apostles of 
the danger of sending the people away without 
having given them some nourishment. Ordinarily 
it is the future which is the cause of our greatest 
solicitude; it is the future which the demon em- 
ploys frequently to disturb and discourage us ; but 
why are we disturbed by a future of which we are 
ignorant? God only knows it; let us leave it to 
His care. Not only does He see the future, but He 
sees it in relation to us ; He sees what must befall 
us, whether it be happy or unfortunate, and He 
knows the means to put away from us whatever 
may be injurious and to procure for us whatever 
may be advantageous. Let us therefore place in 
Him our entire confidence. Then shall we give 
Him the most glorious worship that is possible for 
us, and we shall find, for ourselves, the most pre- 
cious blessing, viz., peace of heart. 



Confidence in God. 231 

Second Point, — The goodness of God is the second 
foundation of our confidence. Jesus, having called 
His disciples, said to them : " I have compassion on 
the people." The knowledge which God has of our 
needs is not a sterile knowledge. Alas! men, for 
the most part, when they see us in afiiiction remain 
insensible. The fortunate ones of the world, on 
hearing of the sufferings of the poor, are but little 
moved and neglect to bring them assistance. But 
it is not so with our God. The sight of our miseries 
excites in Him the sentiments of tenderest com- 
passion : " I have compassion on the multitude 
because they continue with Me, now three days 
and have not what to eat; and I will not send 
them away fasting, lest they faint in the way." 
What treasures of tenderness are enclosed in the 
heart of Jesus, since these words escaped from His 
lips. O my amiable Saviour, whose heart is sen- 
sible to all miseries, shall Thou behold mine and 
not be moved? 

The knowledge which God has of our needs stirs 
His Sacred Heart with compassion ; it does more, it 
prompts Him to assist us. Jesus, having repre- 
sented to His apostles that the people who had 
followed Him for three days had nothing to eat, 
added : '' I will not send them away fasting, lest 
they faint in the way." Listen to these words, 
you who follow Christ and who are faithfully 
attached to Him! Yes, in His service you shall 
suffer. He will test your fervor and your con- 
stancy to a certain point, but He knows how far 



232 Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, 

and how long your strength will last, and He will 
not allow you to be tried beyond that. Everything 
seems to be wanting; your condition has become 
desperate; relatives, friends, protectors, all have 
abandoned you ; but your God will never abandon 
you, He will assist you. Where shall this assist- 
ance come from ? This is the objection which the 
apostles raise. "Whence then should we have so 
many loaves in the desert, as to fill so great a 
multitude?" Whence shall come the assistance? 
You do not know, nor can you foresee ; but should 
it not suffice to know that God wishes we should 
have it, and that He does not wish we should be 
abandoned in our need ? Rest assured in the bosom 
of His infinite goodness, persevere in the senti- 
ments of the fullest confidence, and you shall not 
be deceived. 

Third Point. — The power of God is the third 
foundation of our confidence in Him. ** And tak- 
ing the seven loaves which His apostles gave Him, 
He blessed them and distributed them to the peo- 
ple. All did eat and were filled, and they took up 
that which was left of the fragments, seven baskets. 
And they that had eaten were about four thousand 
men, without counting the women and children." 
What a prodigy ! What abundance ! And yet this 
prodigy of power God renews every day in favor 
of His children. 

In the general order of nature every year the 
earth is covered by new riches to provide for all 
our needs, the plants grow again, the animals are 



Confidence in God. 2'^'^ 

multiplied, the grains and fruits are reproduced. 
This prodigy as admirable as it is constant ; a prod- 
igy which should give us an exalted idea of the 
power of God and fill our hearts with tenderest 
gratitude. But, ungrateful and unfaithful as we 
are, we think only of enjoying the gifts of God, 
without ever thinking of the omnipotent hand 
which has lavished them. 

This prodigy is renewed every day in the special 
order of His providence. God has secret resources 
for those who put their trust in Him. The miracles 
which He employs are not always shining and sen- 
sible miracles, but they are the miracles of a Provi- 
dence as attentive and as admirable as they are 
hidden. We find some just and charitable souls 
who aid the poor, assist the unfortunate, contribute 
to the decorations of the altars, assist in all good 
works, and who, however, are never in need them- 
selves. The more they give, the more they have 
to give, without knowing whence or how the abun- 
dance comes. Everything prospers with them, and 
goods seem to multiply in their hands. Whatever 
they give is as a seed which produces a hundred- 
fold. It is the consequence of their confidence in 
Him whose providence governs everything and 
provides everything. 

This prodigy of power is renewed every day in 
the order of grace. The miracle of the multiplica- 
tion of loaves is the figure of the eucharistic bread. 
In what profusion the Lord has provided for the 
nourishment of our souls? Not only does He give 



234 Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, 

lis His grace, but He gives us Himself, who is the 
Author of all grace. If we are in need, if we are 
weak and languishing, the fault is our own. Do 
we need the bread of the strong, or is the bread of 
the strong wanting in strength? It is we who need 
it; we are wanting to ourselves, allowing ourselves 
to die of hunger in the midst of abundance, either 
because we refuse to eat of this bread which is of- 
fered us, or because we do not partake of it with the 
necessary dispositions. 

O my God, Thou beholdest all my temporal and 
spiritual needs. Thy goodness is moved by them, 
and Thou wishest to help me ; Thy power is infinite, 
and nothing can resist Thee. In whom shall I hope if 
I do not hope in Thee? Ah, Lord, the more press- 
ing my needs shall be, the more my soul shall 
languish and the greater shall be my confidence in 
Thee. 



SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

ON FALSE PROPHETS. 

IN the journey of life you walk between truth and 
falsehood. There are holy prophets who strive 
to direct you in the right pathway ; there are 
also false prophets who seek to seduce you and to 
lead you astray. To avoid these false prophets you 
must know them. This shall be easy for you, since 
you may judge them by their works. "By their 
fruits you shall know them." 

First Point, — It is in your own heart and in your 
passions that you shall find the false prophets who 
are most to be feared. To those perfidious teachers 
these words of the Saviour are especially appro- 
priate: " They come to you under the appearance 
of lambs, but within they are ravening wolves." 
What flatters us more than a passion? What is 
sweeter to us than its language or more seducing 
than its promises? Should you listen to it, it 
will give you happiness and glory — everything will 
be yours if you consent to open your heart to it 
and submit to its amiable empire. Thus it is that 
pleasure promises the sweetest joys. Envy shows 
us the humiliation of a rival as a most beautiful 
triumph. But if you are wise you will close your 



2;^6 Seventli Sunday after Pentecost, 

ears to the voices of these sirens, consider their 
effects, and then judge them. 

We read in the Sacred Scriptures that a woman 
named Jahel, beholding Sisara hurriedly departing, 
recalled him by the most flattering words : •' Come 
to my house ; fear not, for I shall conceal you from 
the search of your enemies." Sisara returned at 
this invitation and at first was entertained splen- 
didly. Jahel gave him milk to drink and clothed 
him with a beautiful mantle, and he slept in fullest 
confidence. But while he slept this perfidious 
woman drove a large nail in his head, and he per- 
ished a victim to his credulity. And this is what 
the passions do; they promise life, a happy life, to 
those who listen to them, but in reality they are the 
cause of death — at first the death of the soul by 
inducing to sin ; and they often occasion the death 
of the body, for every one knows how pleasures, 
intemperance, impurity, and idleness produce a 
multitude of maladies and infirmities which abridge 
the life of those who indulge in them. 

Sensual pleasures have all the attraction and 
sweetness of honey ; we taste them without suspi- 
cion, and relish their delights; little by little, we 
sleep and forget God, our soul, and eternity. The 
habit of living only a material and sensual life be- 
comes as the nail which binds us to the earth, and we 
are miserably lost. Guard well, therefore, against 
the voice of passions; learn to rule them, otherwise 
you shall become their slave ; and what greater mis- 
fortune can there be than such a slavery ! 



0)1 False Prop! ids. 237 

Second Point. — The second kind of false prophet 
you should mistrust is the world, or rather the re- 
spectable worldlings. If you have to deal with men 
who are known as infidels or libertines, you will 
have less to fear, because you will be on your 
guard. But the men whom you are to question 
have a reputation for honesty and respectability, 
and it is this very morality which puts aside every 
suspicion. They come to you with a smile on their 
lips, and oh, how charming their language is! It 
has all the sweetness of honey. Youth must have 
its pleasures, and to interdict a young person from 
balls, theatres, and certain books is a species of 
cruelty ! Religion must not exact privations which 
are beyond human strength ! God has not created 
man to make him miserable, and to forbid him the 
pleasures of the world is to rob him of every hap- 
piness ! This is the language of your respectable 
worldly man, this is what he will tell you, and 
such are the false prophets of whom you must be- 
ware. Judge of them by their fruits. And what 
are the effects of those books which your respect- 
able worldling counsels you to read? They exag- 
gerate the imagination, falsify the judgment, place 
the soul outside the limits of truth, and feed it with 
chimeras. Romantic ideas, loss of time, forgetful- 
ness of the most sacred duties, distaste for life, and, 
consequently, suicide — behold the fruits of those 
readings which some shall tell you are innocent! 

With regard to the pleasures of the world, un- 
questionably they are not all equally criminal, but 



238 Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, 

experience proves how sad, how disastrous they 
are to virtue. Distaste for piety, abandonment of 
prayer, hardness of heart, a spirit of vanity and of 
pride — ^behold the least consequences of those pleas- 
ures to which the world agrees ! 

The distaste for piety and abandonment of prayer. 
How can we bring to prayer the recollection it re- 
quires on returning from a ball,, when the senses 
and imagination are full of excitement from all we 
have seen and heard? 

Hardness of heart. A person in the midst of the 
world, accustomed to the society of happy people, 
never dreams of the sufferings of the poor ; if we be- 
hold misery, we turn our eyes away in disgust ; and, 
besides, vanity absorbs our resources to satisfy the 
demands of style and dress, and we never have any- 
thing to give to the poor. Be on your guard, there- 
fore, against the world, its maxims, its examples, 
and especially its pleasures ; never forget that one 
cannot serve two masters ; you must stand for virtue 
or vanity, for God or the world. 

Third Point, — The third kind of false prophets 
which you should mistrust is composed of all the 
enemies of the Church. Here also the most danger- 
ous are not the unbelievers. They do not come under 
the shepherd's staff, they do not dissemble, and on 
that account it is more easy for you to be on your 
guard against their impious words. Heresy is more 
to be feared because it conceals the poison of error 
under the appearance of truth. It is not inclined 
to show itself such as it is, or to uncover its designs 



r On False Prophets, 239 

and to plainly expose its thoughts. It strives to 
conceal and disguise and hide itself under the staff 
of the faithful shepherd. To hear some speak, you 
would think them the true children of the Church, 
wholly submissive to all her decisions. Equivoca- 
tions are not their least defects. They place the 
Church where it seems good for them, and they 
recognize only those decisions which do not attack 
their errors. They appear to labor only for God, 
they call themselves His envoys, and promise to 
conduct souls to salvation. They support their 
doctrine by a certain regularity of life ; their ex- 
terior is edifying and composed; but under a 
simple garb, under a mortified exterior, they con- 
ceal a spirit of fury and hatred, and carry destruc- 
tion and division everywhere; they are the raven- 
ing wolves in the midst of the flocks of Jesus 
Christ. But the sheep should fly from them, avoid 
their assemblies, reject their books, and close their 
ears to their misleading discourses. As an excuse 
for your relations with the enemies of your faith, 
you say that you do not indulge in religious dis- 
putes. Now either this is to hold your salvation 
and your religion as worth but little, or you fail to 
distinguish two things most distinct. Without 
doubt, all the faithful are not obliged to enter into 
the depths of disputed matters between Catholics 
and heretics, but all should be on their guard, lest 
they give their confidence to false prophets, lest 
they follow a false doctrine, a doctrine condemned 
by the Church. This is a precept of Jesus Christ. 



240 Seventh Simday after Pentecost. 

If through want of this attention you are seduced 
or led astray, you can have no excuse. To say also 
that we should not judge any one is to misconstrue 
the words of Jesus, and to forget that in the same 
chapter where He forbids us to judge He com- 
mands us to be most attentive and watchful. 

O my God, how many false doctors strive to mis- 
lead me, by preaching to me a doctrine and maxims 
which are contrary to Thy doctrine and Thy max- 
ims. Save me, Lord, from the pitfalls which sur- 
round my pathway, and do not permit that I should 
ever cease to hear Thy commandments, Thou who 
art the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 



EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

THE PARABLE OF THE UNJUST STEWARD. 

'T'HERE are few narratives in the Gospel which 
are so replete with useful instructions as the 
• • • parable of the unjust steward. Reflect on 
these most interesting circumstances, and strive to 
profit by the lessons which they contain. 

A rich man had a steward. This rich man is 
God, and He alone merits this title truly, because 
He only disposes of all goods, since He is Sover- 
eign and Master of all. The rich of the world are 
not rich except by Him; if men have science, 
wealth, virtue, or beauty, they possess all these 
goods from His liberality. Besides, these borrowed 
riches may disappear in one moment or another; 
their loss may be occasioned by some disgrace, an 
illness, or a reverse of fortune; while, on the con- 
trary, God is free from all reverses, all accidents, 
and from every inconstancy. 

This man had a steward. We are all the stew- 
ards of God, and to all He has confided goods 
which we should improve. There are goods in the 
order of nature, and goods in the order of grace. 
Everything has been confided to us as a trust 
which we must render fruitful for our Master. In- 
telligence and genius come from God ; we must 
i6 



242 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, 

employ them for His glory. The faculty of loving 
is a gift of His heart ; we should direct it towards 
Him who is its principal and its most worthy ob- 
ject. If we have riches, let ns strive to employ 
them in doing Him homage and by distributing 
them among the poor, who are His representatives. 
The sacraments, sermons, and holy inspirations 
are the gifts of God. He has lavished them on 
us as to His children, but it is on the condition that 
we make them fructify for His glory by making 
them serve for our sanctification. 

The steward in question here was defamed to 
his master for having badly administered the 
goods which had been confided to him. From 
this learn that God knows everything. He knows 
perfectly those who are faithful and those who 
are not, those who are negligent and those who 
are zealous. Therefore, if He remain silent, if 
He fail to strike the guilty one, understand it well, 
it is not because He has not seen him or has for- 
gotten him, but His patient mercy gives us time to 
think of ourselves and to repair the offences of 
which we are guilty towards Him. When the time 
marked by His justice shall come. He shall call us 
before His tribunal. God calls us all, one after the 
other, a little sooner or later, but He shall call 
all without exception. Though we were concealed 
in an abyss, God need only make a sign, and Death, 
the implacable messenger, shall hasten to strike us 
and to cast us at the feet of our Judge. Then our 
examination shall begin. 



Tlie Parable of tlie Unjust Steward. 243 

What is this I hear of you? A thousand com- 
plaints have reached me and directly accuse you. 
Your conscience groans in its slavery. I have 
given it to you to be your rule, your guide, and 
instead of hearing -its voice and walking in its 
light you have stifled its cries, you hold it captive 
in iniquity, and it complains of the violence you 
have done it. The poor, whom you should assist 
according to your means — the poor. My friends and 
your brethren, complain of your neglect and the 
hardness of your heart. The blood of My Son 
whom I have delivered up for you — this blood, 
which you trample under your feet and which you 
despise or which you profane in the sacraments, 
cries for , vengeance against you. My ministers 
whom you insult — these men of peace who have 
instructed your infancy, guided your youth, con- 
soled your sorrows — My ministers mourn over 
your sins, the cry of their hearts has reached me. 
Why then are all these complaints? Now render 
an account of your administration. 

O terrible words ! they shall be addressed to us one 
day ; they shall resound in our ears with the sound of 
thunder which suddenly comes to awake us from 
sleep in the middle of the still night. O un- 
faithful Christian ! you have been born of virtu- 
ous parents, in the bosom of the true Church, and, 
consequently in the midst of all graces, and of all 
the means of salvation; to sustain and to sanctify 
you, you have had the sacraments, instructions, 
good examples, wise counsels, remorse of con- 



244 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost. 

science — and what profit have you made of all these 
graces? "Give an account of thy stewardship, for 
now thou canst be steward no longer/' 

There shall come a day when God shall take from 
us all His goods, and there shall no longer be grace 
to aid us, nor talents to improve, nor merits to 
acquire. That day has already come for many 
whom you have known, and it shall also come for 
you, and when it shall come and your stewardship 
shall have been taken from you it shall be forever. 
Shall you not draw some practical consequences 
from such a terrible truth ? Shall you live always 
as if this world belonged to you, and as if you were 
never to depart from it? Oh! do not forget that 
you are constantly nearing one of these, two alter- 
natives — either an eternity of punishment, if you 
are a sinner, or an eternity of delights, if you have 
been faithful. 

'' But what shall I do?" said the unjust steward 
to himself. How shall I escape the evils which 
threaten me? Then it was that a means was sug- 
gested which was more cunning than equitable, and 
which justified these words of our blessed Lord: 
"The children of this world are wiser in their 
generation than the children of light.*' The 
children of the world are they who think only 
of the present life, and who are occupied only 
with what interests them on earth. The children 
of light are they who know that there is another 
life, who aspire to life eternal, desiring and 
wishing to gain their salvation. You have the 



The Parable of the Unjust Stczvard. 245 

happiness to be of this number, but compare your 
prudence for eternal things with the prudence of 
the worldly for temporal things, and see how much 
their prudence is superior to yours. 

They are superior in action, they do not fear pain 
or suffering, and it is even one of their principles 
that we obtain nothing without difficulty. They 
spare themselves in nothing — humiliating under- 
takings, prolonged watchings, voyages, fatigues, in 
fact nothing disheartens them. They are superior 
in reflection ; they wish to be ignorant of nothing 
which can be useful to them. They study, they 
examine, they search deeply, they consult, they 
ask; their whole mind is concentrated on what 
they desire, and they profit by everything. They 
are superior in their resources; ill success never 
discourages them, and they arrange to withdraw 
from unsuccessful business; then it is that their 
activity and shrewdness are especially manifest. 
There are no means which they do not discover, no 
attempts which they do not make, no resources 
they do not employ ; and when placed in greatest 
disgrace, they have the secret of still finding re- 
sources — witness the unfaithful steward of whom 
our blessed Saviour speaks. Alas ! shall these men 
be so prudent for the earth, and shall we do so 
little for heaven ? In the matter of salvation we 
would wish that everything were easy, and we 
would abandon success, if to assure it we must 
labor and combat. In our contests for virtue the 
least reverse discourages us, our falls make us de- 



246 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, 

spair, and instead of thinking of the means to re- 
pair the past and of fortifying ourselves for the 
future, instead of animating us with new ardor and 
of taking new precautions, we are tempted to aban- 
don everything, and we are imprudent enough 
sometimes to do so. 

O my God, should I not blush for my imprudence, 
for my carelessness, for my sloth in a matter where 
there is question of Thy glory and my eternal sal- 
vation ! and when the children of the world are so 
attentive, so prudent, so laborious, and so perse- 
vering to attain their ends? May their conduct be 
always a living lesson to teach me what I should 
do for Thee, and to sustain myself in the difficult 
way of virtue. 



NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

JESUS WEEPS OVER JERUSALEM. 

/^N seeing the Saviour of the world shed tears 
over Jerusalem, strive to understand under 
• • • what circumstances He shed them and what 
is the object of His tears. 

First Point. — The circumstances under which 
Jesus shed tears. Nothing on the part of Jeru- 
salem seems to justify them, and with regard to 
Himself nothing seems to provoke them. In Jeru- 
salem everything appears to inspire joy, everything 
breathes of happiness. From afar you may see the 
rich palaces, brilliant and lifting their domes to the 
clouds, her splendid temple, and her impregnable 
towers; you can hear the sound of her joyous pop- 
ulation, and the eye of man perceives nothing there 
which can explain the profound sadness of the Sav- 
iour. But the look of Jesus is not the look of a 
man ; it is the look of a God before whom every- 
thing is unveiled. It pierces the future, it sounds the 
depths of hearts, it judges men and things, n6t after 
they have appeared, but before they had existence. 
And now behold the mysteries which the eye of 
Jesus discovered in the unfortunate city which pro- 
voked His tears. 

On the Mount of Olives, where He had come to 



248 Ninth Sunday after Pentecost. 

pour out His soul in prayer, from this lofty sum- 
mit Jesus saw the fearful storm which v/as already 
gathering over the heads of this guilty people. 
Jerusalem was condemned to perish, and the sen- 
tence was irrevocably pronounced. Titus and Ves- 
pasian, who were to be the terrible executioners, 
appeared before the saddened eyes of Jesus. On 
the very spot where He had received a kind of tri- 
umph, Vespasian shall establish his camp for the 
extermination of the city ; thousands of crosses are 
erected, on which the Jews must expiate their 
crime of Deicide; He perceives the burning of the 
city, the fall of its walls, the flight or the death of 
its inhabitants, the captivity of those who could 
neither fly nor die, the frightful famine which 
would compel mothers to devour their own off- 
spring — the scene of desolation which must ruin 
the proud and unfaithful city was all before His 
eyes. Then it was He wept over it and its misfor- 
tunes. He had predicted it, and He would have 
hindered it; but His Father had pronounced the 
sentence, and He could only weep over the sad fu- 
ture of a city which He had loved so much. 

On the part of Jesus, nothing seems to provoke 
the tears He shed. All Jerusalem carries Him in 
triumph, and the multitude in its enthusiasm ex- 
claims : " Glory to the Son of David ; blessed is He 
who comes in the name of the Lord!** Some ex- 
tend their garments under His feet, while others 
strew flowers on the streets through which He 
passes. What, then, is the secret of His tears? 



Jesus Weeps Over Jerusalem, 249 

Why sadness and sorrow at the moment when 
everything calls for happiness and joy? Jesus 
would teach us to restrain ourselves in prosperity 
by the expectation of the evils which may surprise 
us. It is written in our sacred books that joy and 
sorrow meet each other here below, and a day of 
joy may be the precursor of a day of affliction. It 
is not, therefore, necessary for a Christian to allow 
himself to indulge in a delirium of triumph, but it 
is necessary that he should strive to preserve, in 
the most lively and legitimate joy, a certain senti- 
ment of sorrow which becomes a disciple of the 
cross and predisposes him to endure better the in- 
constancy of men and the reverses of fortune. 

"I know well,'' said a famous orator to the tri- 
bune, " that the Tarpeian rock is close to the Cap- 
itol." One day the celebrated Ugolin, a chief of 
the Guelphs, having accomplished a complete tri- 
umph over a faction of the Gibelines, invited all 
his friends to a banquet. He recalled his recent 
successes, and asked of one of his most devoted 
friends if there was anything wanting to complete 
his happiness. " Yes/' answered his friend, "the 
anger of God cannot be far from so great pros- 
perity." He was indeed a prophet without being 
aware of it, for, some time after, Ugolin was con- 
quered and taken prisoner; then he was impris- 
oned in a tower with his two sons and three neph- 
ews, and there they all died of hunger. Who is 
there that can securely count on the delusive pros- 
perity which comes to us here on earth? 



250 Ni7ith Sunday after Pentecost. 

Second Point, — What is the object of the Saviour's 
tears? If Jesus weeps, is it not over His approach- 
ing passion and death, since, some days later and 
amid the most bitter sorrows. He consoles the 
holy women who followed Him ? He said : " Daugh- 
ters of Jerusalem, weep not over Me, but weep for 
yourselves and your children." These words clearly 
indicate the object of His tears. Il is the blindness 
of the Jewish people — a blindness which was fol- 
lowed by the ruin of their city and the loss of 
souls. To sin is the sad portion of humanity, but 
to persevere in crime and to have no wish to rise 
from that condition is the characteristic of the 
demon. Now Jerusalem, indisposed and laden 
with iniquity, rejects the Phj^sician who had come 
from heaven to heal her; she refuses to know the 
peace which is offered her or Him who visits her. 
How could He restrain His tears when beholding 
such blindness? 

That which increased the sorrow of the Saviour 
was that the unfortunate inhabitants of Jerusalem 
were amusing themselves at the very moment He 
wept over them. Everything in the city was fes- 
tive and rejoicing, although they were on the eve 
of their last misfortune. " If thou hadst known, 
on this day, that which can procure thee peace, the 
day shall come when thine enemies shall surround 
thee and they shall overthrow thee, and they shall 
not leave in thee a stone upon a stone.'' And so 
the tears of Jesus are disinterested, tears so much 
the more bitter because of the sorrows which caused 



Jesus Weeps Over Jerusalem, 251 

them to flow, because they were shed over a city 
formerly faithful, loved by God, and filled with His 
most signal favors. 

Several cities of Judea must share the same lot 
as Jerusalem ; Jesus knew this. However, He 
wept only for Jerusalem. Ah, it was because it 
was formerly the cherished city of God, and be- 
cause to-day it was the most ungrateful. When 
Jesus wept over the tomb of Lazarus the Jews said : 
"See how He loved him." Why, then, to-day, 
when He weeps over them, do they not say: "See 
how He loves us"? It is because all that is hid- 
den from their eyes and they understand nothing 
of their own history. 

The second object over which Jesus shed tears is 
ourselves. Alas, what a painful similarity to make 
between us and Jerusalem ! And in this similarity 
how many traits of resemblance afflict the heart of 
Our Saviour and should cover us with confusion ! 
As Jerusalem, we have been chosen by God as the 
portion of His inheritance. He has enriched us 
with His graces. At a certain epoch in our life 
we received Him in triumph, and we have prom- 
ised Him an inviolable fidelity. What has be- 
come of our promises? What have we done with 
His graces? Jesus weeps over us, over our inno- 
cence lost, over our promises violated, and over 
the evils which threaten us. To-day are we grate- 
ful, at least for the time in w^hich He visits us? 
It is like the efforts which God makes to bring back 
the lost sheep — the loving searches of the Good 



252 Ninth Sunday after Pentecost. 

Shepherd — to the fold ; it is like the anxious so- 
licitude of the woman who disturbs everything in 
her house to find the lost drachma. 

God seeks us in two ways : At one time it is His 
love and His grace which call us to prayer which 
has been abandoned for a long time, or He knocks 
gently at our hearts in the assembly of the faith- 
ful. Again, it is Divine Justice which chastises us 
to recall us to the right way, and sends us afflic- 
tions to remove from our eyes the bandage which 
blinds us. Happy is the soul who knows how to 
correspond to the voice of God, whether it sounds 
with severity or whether it calls us with love. 



TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. 

\ A/E cannot better understand the manner in 
which we should pray than by establishing 
• • • a parallel between the defective prayer of 
the Pharisee and the excellent prayer of the publi- 
can. Let us, therefore, examine the dispositions 
of both. 

First Point. — The dispositions of the Pharisee. 
There were good and bad dispositions in his 
prayer. There was something good in him, be- 
cause he went to the temple to pray. In this he 
imitated the example of Jesus. He did what the 
faithful observers of the law do, and what should 
be done after the example of the apostles and the 
saints. He understood the words of Holy Writ, 
" My house is a house of prayer.'' How many men 
are there to-day who pretend to be better than this 
Pharisee and still they do not even do as much as he 
did? And even you, when you go to the temple, 
is it true that you go there to pray? 

The Pharisee gave thanks to God for His bene- 
fits. Jesus also thanked His Father in His prayers. 
This is a duty which the Church is careful to im- 
press on us every day at Mass — '' It is right and 



254 Tenth Sunday after Pentecost. 

just to return thanks to God." The Pharisee un- 
derstood the duty of gratitude. How many Chris- 
tians who have been filled with God's choicest 
blessings do not understand this duty? Are you 
of this number? 

The Pharisee was neither a thief, nor an adul- 
terer, nor an unjust man. Consequently, he ob- 
seryed many of God's commandments — the seventh, 
which says, " Thou shalt not steal ;" the sixth, which 
forbids adultery; in fact, he avoided what is for- 
bidden by all the commandments, viz., injustice. 
In many respects he was not of the number of those 
of whom St. Paul says : *' They who do these things 
shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." 

This Pharisee did good works; he fasted two 
days in each week, thereby following the example 
of Jesus, the apostles, and all true Christians. 
He gave alms, paid his tithes on all he possessed, 
and in this imitated Abraham and fulfilled the law 
of Jesus. Where are the Christians, even among 
those who are reputed pious, who do as much as he 
did ? We are obliged to praise and admire all this 
in the Pharisee, but here is what we must blame in 
him and the reason his prayer was rejected : He 
was of the number of those who consider them- 
selves just, rely on themselves, and despise others. 
Spiritual pride, which is the worst of all, blinds the 
Pharisee to such an extent that he no longer re- 
gards himself as a sinner. This it is which corrupts 
all good works in their very essence and makes his 
prayer vicious. He is also guilty in his prayer; he 



The Pilar isce and the Publican. 255 

sees nothing in himself which is reprehensible ; in 
fact, there is nothing for which he may reproach or 
accuse himself, and he regards himself as entirely 
innocent. It is said, however, that ''the just man 
first accuses himself." David conjured the Lord to 
pardon him for his hidden faults, and has not St. 
Paul spoken these words: "Although I do not feel 
guilty of anything, still I am not justified for 
that." 

The Pharisee, under the very eye of God, enu- 
merated his good works, not to refer them to the 
Author of every good, but to take pride in them. 
Instead of saying, '' That which I am, I am by the 
grace of God," he refers all his good qualities to 
himself ; he exaggerates and esteems them far more 
than they are really worth, and, under the veil of 
his presumptuous pride, it is not God whom he 
thanks, but himself. 

The Pharisee commits a third fault by comparing 
himself with the publican, to despise him. By 
what right does he exalt himself the judge of his 
neighbor? St. Paul has said: ''It is why, O man, 
you are inexcusable if you judge others; for in 
judging others you condemn yourself, since you do 
that which you condemn in them." 

It was not enough for the Pharisee to exalt him- 
self above the publican, but in his pride he ex- 
alted himself above all men. " Lord, I thank Thee 
that I am not as the rest of men." With such dis- 
positions, is it surprising that his good works were 
sterile, his piety rejected, and that he returned to 



256 Tenth Sunday after Pentecost. 

his house without being justified ! Is it not written : 
" God resists the proud and gives His grace to the 
humble^'? 

Second Point, — The dispositions of the publican. 
In the prayer of the publican there is much to 
praise and nothing to blame. And first remark 
his profound humility. He remains as far as he 
can away from the altar, and there accuses himself 
before God. At the sorrowful sight of his faults, 
he does not dare to approach near the sanctuary ; 
he considers himself unworthy to appear in the 
presence of the Lord, he is so convinced of his un- 
worthiness. Accustom yourself to modesty, and do 
not strive to obtain preference ; here on earth, the 
last place is the best. The divine Master has said: 
"Whosoever humbles himself shall be exalted.*' 

While the Pharisee was standing erect with his 
eyes raised to the altar, the poor publican, ashamed 
and humiliated at his criminal life, trembles in the 
presence of the Lord and Judge and dares not to 
lift his eyes to heaven. You are also a sinner; 
therefore imitate a repentant sinner. As the publi- 
can, be penetrated by a salutary shame at the re- 
membrance of your faults, and as he entertain a 
holy respect in presence of the God whom you have 
offended and who shall one day be your Judge. 

Admire, in the second place, the publican's spirit 
of penance. He strikes his breast, and by this ac- 
tion he loudly confesses that he has merited the 
chastisements of God. He strikes his own breast 
because he accuses himself, without striving to cast 



The Pharisee and the Publican, 257 

his faults on another. You also have sinned, and 
by your sin you have incurred the enmity of God. 
Do you wish to obtain pardon ? Strike your breast 
also, and, humbly at the knees of the priest in the 
tribunal of penance, do not fear to say: "It is 
through my fault, through my fault, it is through 
my great fault that I have sinned by thought and 
word and deed and omission.'' 

The humble publican adds to this exterior act a 
prayer which comes from a heart which is truly 
contrite: ''Lord, be merciful to me a sinner!" 
Thus it is he speaks to God, and not to himself, as 
the Pharisee did ; he does not enumerate his good 
works with complacency; he only accuses himself, 
avows himself a sinner, and asks for mercy and 
pardon. When you are before God do not rely on 
your good works and your merits to attract His 
graces, but recall and tell Him, in the bitterness of 
your heart, all your sorrows and faults. Let your 
lips frequently repeat the humble prayer of the 
publican: "Lord, be merciful to me a sinner!*' 
and then there shall flow from your eyes those 
tears of penance which shall merit for you grace and 
pardon. 

And now make an examination of your own con- 
duct. Indeed, you detest the culpable conduct and 
the haughty hypocrisy of the Pharisee, but have 
you been careful to avoid it in your own life? As 
he, you are, perhaps, exempt from the gross vices; 
in your conduct, as in his, we may see evidences of 
good works ; but are you wholly exempt from pride, 
17 



258 Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, 

envy, ambition, and those other spiritual vices 
with which the heart of this presumptuous man was 
filled? Put away all such sentiments, which are 
so unworthy of a Christian, and strive to imitate 
the example of the poor publican I Pray as he did, 
in the church and out of it, with the same humil- 
ity, the same fervor, and then rest assured that 
your prayers shall be heard always. 



ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

THE DEAF MUTE. 

CPIRITUAL deafness is the malady of those who 
refuse to hear what is useful for their salva- 
• • • tioii, as the word of God, remorse of con- 
science, and the inspirations of grace. They who 
are spiritually dumb never speak when they should ; 
they neither confess their sins nor pray ; they are 
indifferent to the interests of God and the interests 
of their neighbor. This deafness and dumbness 
are the vices which, ordinarily, lead to final impeni- 
tence. But, on the other hand, there are a deafness 
and dumbness which are really virtues. Let us 
strive to acquire these virtues by responding to 
these two questions: When should we be deaf? 
and. When should we be dumb? 

First Point, — When should we be deaf? Faith 
teaches us that the ears as well as the eyes are the 
doors by which the demon and sin enter the soul 
to destroy it. A Christian should, therefore, know 
how to close them to everything which could be in- 
jurious to his eternal interests — to the suggestions 
of the demon, to the licentious words of the world, 
and to falsehood and injuries. 

Learn to close your ears against the suggestions 
of the demon. That which he did to ruin our first 



26o Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost. 

parents he strives to do every day, viz., to destroy 
us. He does this in two ways. He perverts or re- 
viles the commandments, raises objections against 
them, alleges pretexts for violating them, and 
drives the thought of God and the fear of His 
judgments far from us. When the demon cannot 
break the law by a false interpretation of it, he 
presents vice and sin under the most flattering ap- 
pearances, and he promises happiness as the reward 
of our degradation. "You shall be as gods," he 
said to Eve, *' knowing good and evil." And when 
showing our divine Saviour the wealth of the 
world, did he not say: "I shall give you all that, 
if you shall adore me"? To such vile suggestions 
oppose the strictest deafness; to listen to him for 
an instant is to assure him a complete victory. 

Close your ears to the immoral discourses of the 
worldly; the sweeter the words, the more perfidy 
they conceal. The fable recounts that the wise 
Ulysses bound himself to the mast of his vessel and 
closed his ears to guard himself against the songs 
of the sirens and to hinder himself from being 
drawn to them. Act with the same prudence and 
the same mistrust of yourself against the enchant- 
ment of vice ; it seeks to charm and destroy you by 
its impious and shameful words, by its bad books 
and corrupting songs, by its deceitful pleasures or 
sad rewards. 

Bind yourself strongly to the Church, the divine 
vessel of which Jesus is the Pilot ; close your ears 
to the language of heretics and their impious words ; 



The Deaf Mitt e. 261 

reject every doctrine and every word which shall 
not be in conformity to the word and teaching of 
the Church, your mother. Close your ears to all 
slander. It is as much your enemy as it is the 
enemy of him whom it blackens. It is your enemy, 
since it seeks to render you an accomplice and to 
compromise your soul in the e5^es of God. It is the 
enemy of him whom it disparages, the perfidious 
enemy who strikes the blow in the darkness, who 
accuses one who is absent and so easily condemned, 
because it is impossible to justify himself. Follow, 
therefore, the advice of the wise man : " Close your 
ears with thorns, and listen not to a wicked 
tongue." 

In fine, close your ears to the words of those who 
offend you, and patiently bear with their injuries. 
The pardon of injuries is a most rigorous duty, and 
at the same time the most difficult duty to perform 
of all the evangelical laws. Animate yourself in 
the fulfilment of this duty by the consideration of 
the great blessings which are attached to it. By 
the observance of this law you are promised the 
pardon of your own faults and the certainty of ob- 
taining mercy. " Forgive, and you shall be for- 
given. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall 
obtain mercy." Strengthen yourself in these dis- 
positions by the example of the saints. Saul, 
being still the friend of God, heard the contempt 
and outrage hurled against Him, yet acted as if 
he had not heard them. David also heard of the 
injuries of Semeus, but he considered them as so 



262 Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, 

many envoys of God, and forbade that they should 
be avenged. In fine, Jesus, the most perfect of all 
the models, prompts one of His prophets to say of 
Him: ''They have outraged Me, but like one who 
is deaf, I do not hear, and as one who is dumb, I 
open not My mouth/' After His example we should 
be deaf to all injuries. 

Second Point, — When should we be silent? There 
is an obligation for us to be silent concerning our 
merits and our virtues, if we think we have any. 
Christian humility demands it, and propriety alone 
imposes silence on us in this regard. What idea 
can we have of a man who so far forgets the rules 
of modesty as to boast of himself and to applaud 
himself for the good he has done, or for the quali- 
ties he may possess? A holy father says, if the 
wise man of the world possess treasures or riches 
he will not proclaim it in the streets, through his 
fear of robbers. And so the Christian should con- 
ceal his virtues under the veil of modesty, through 
fear lest the demon and the world should take them 
from him. 

We should remain silent on the secrets which 
have been confided to us, or which we may have 
discovered; in either case, we should sin if we di- 
vulged them. If we divulge secrets, we sin against 
charity, which forbids us to do to another what we 
would not wish to be done to ourselves ; and cer- 
tainly we would not wish that one of our secrets 
should be made known, even if it were of the 
slightest importance. If we should make known a 



The Deaf Mute, 263 

secret whicli a friend has confided to us in a mo- 
ment of confidence, not only do we sin against the 
sacredness of a secret, but we wound the heart of 
our friend by a betrayal of his confidence ; we are 
guilty of perfidy by employing his friendship as a 
means to injure him. Let us be virtuous enough 
not to seek or provoke the confidences of others, 
and prudent enough not to exercise a kind of curi- 
ous surveillance over the actions of our neighbor, 
and accustom ourselves to be engaged with our 
own affairs and not with the affairs of others ; in 
this way w^e shall secure the esteem of all, and our 
conscience shall be content and happy. 

We should be silent when anger takes possession 
of us. Never speak at such a time ; you shall gain 
a great victory over this terrible passion if in these 
moments of intoxication and folly you are silent 
when you can scarcely speak without offending 
your neighbor, and consequently without offending 
God. The v/isest thing you can do is to keep abso- 
lutely silent when you feel your heart agitated by 
anger. 

Be silent on matters which offend the holy virtue. 
Oh, how many souls have been corrupted and lost 
by impure words and obscene songs! Let us re- 
member that our lips have been blessed and sanc- 
tified by Baptism, and that they have received a 
holier consecration by communion. The place 
where God has passed should be respected. 

Be silent on the defects and faults of others. 
You are not their judge ; you have not to answer 



264 Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, 

for them before God. Leave to Him, therefore, 
the care of judging them. What can we conceive 
more horrible than the viperous tongues which 
morning and night are employed in defaming some 
neighbor and blasting his reputation? Make it a 
rule to be silent concerning others, at least when 
nothing good may be said of them. 

My God, place Thy fear, as a seal, on my mouth 
and on my ears, that I may never use them except 
for the interests of Thy glory and my salvation. 



TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 

T^HE parable of the good Samaritan is replete 
with practical instructions. In the unfortu- 
• • • nate man who has fallen into the hands of 
robbers, stripped, beaten, and half dead, we behold 
the image of the soul which has fallen into the 
hands of the demon through sin ; and in the good 
Samaritan we see the image of Jesus, who has come 
on earth to heal sinners. Therefore meditate on 
these two phases of the parable — the miserable 
state of the sinner, and the unspeakable mercy of 
Jesus. 

First Point, — This man who goes down from 
Jerusalem, the holy city, to Jericho, the profane 
city, is the image of him who departs from God to 
give himself to the creature. He is the image of 
the sinner who descends from the high estate to 
which grace had exalted him, and who falls into 
the deep degradation of sin. Oh, how grand in 
the eyes of God and the angels is the beauty of a 
soul in the state of grace ! This beauty escapes the 
eyes of men, but God looks lovingly upon it, and 
calls that soul by the sweetest terms — '' My dove, 
my beautiful one, my friend." The Holy Spirit, 
whose spouse she is, depicts her by the most gra- 



2 66 Tivelfth Sunday after Pentecost. 

cious images; she is a young tree, planted on the 
banks of running waters ; a lily, whose beauty ri- 
vals Solomon in all his splendor and glory ; a dove, 
dazzling by the whiteness of its plumage. But 
once let her sin, the glory and beauty are lost and 
she becomes an object of disgust in the eyes of her 
God. 

This man is also the image of the infidel, who de- 
scends from the high mountain of faith to bury him- 
self in the depths of doubt. The human intelligence 
soars above the earth, borne on the wings of faith 
and instructed by its light ; not only does she know 
her origin and her destiny, but she arises even to 
God, and regards even the immeasurable depths of 
the infinite. She reposes on truth, between hope 
and love; she enjoys and triumphs. Incredulity 
casts uncertainty into the intelligence, snatches 
hope and love from the heart, and delivers man up 
to all the agonies of doubt. 

This man is also your image. He is like you, 
who have abandoned piety and virtue for vanity 
and the passions. Alas, how you have fallen ! Once 
you ruled your passions with the angels, you wor- 
shipped Him whose purity you possessed ; the vir- 
tue which adorned your heart gave you a mysteri- 
ous ascendancy which excited the envy of some and 
compelled the admiration of others, and made you 
loved by every one. But now you are a slave, and 
sin has robbed you of your crown and your glory. 

This man fell into the hands of robbers, who 
stripped him and left him covered with wounds 



The Good Samaritan. 267 

and half dead. By quitting God and virtue we fall 
into the hands of the demon and the passions, 
whose unhappy slaves we become. Without doubt, 
it is not by the shame of slavery that the demon 
and the passions call you when they solicit you to 
evil, but it is by holding out a sweet independence 
and the most legitimate joys. Oh, fatal and cruel 
illusion ! These perfidious enemies begin by de- 
spoiling you of your goods. They take from you 
your innocence, and with it peace of heart; they 
take away sanctifying grace, and with it your 
beauty and your titles of nobility; they rob you 
of the holy liberty of the children of God by mak- 
ing you slaves of shameful desires ; they take from 
you your right to heaven, and give you instead 
hell for your final destiny. They cause you to lose 
the merits of all the good works which have en- 
riched the past years of your life, and place you in 
the impossibility of henceforth doing any work 
meritorious in the sight of God. What nakedness 
and what misery ! 

Nor is it enough to strip the slave of his cloth- 
ing, but the demon wounds him in all the faculties 
of his soul. Under the sway of passions, the intel- 
ligence is weakened, memory is dulled, the most 
beautiful instincts are perverted, the heart is hard- 
ened in evil, and only too often health itself is 
ruined and the most splendid fortunes are swal- 
lowed up. 

And after this ruin what becomes of the sinner? 
His executioners leave him half dead. Cruel truth ! 



268 Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost. 

when a soul has lost her faith and innocence the 
world abandons her and covers her with contempt. 
Unfortunate soul! she is more dead than alive, 
since she has lost grace, which is the source of 
spiritual life. And even after she has recovered 
grace by penance, she still preserves a certain 
weakness, which is at once the consequence and 
the expiation of her first faults. O my God, how 
can I recall the sad effects of sin and again consent 
to commit it? 

Second Point, — The mercy of Jesus for us. God 
has not abandoned sinful man. The Son of God was 
moved to pity at the sight of our miseries, and what 
has He done to heal our wounds? He has become 
man. Jesus is the good Samaritan on His journey, 
who comes near to the wounded man and takes 
compassion on him. Alas! sin had separated us 
from God so wonderfully far that if God Himself 
had not come to us never should we have been 
able to return to Him. By the mystery of the In- 
carnation the Son of God took the first step towards 
our poor nature; He found it stripped of all its 
prerogatives, wounded in its intelligence and will, 
deprived of its supernatural life of grace, and con- 
demned to eternal death. To devote Himself to 
the salvation of our souls was the first act of His 
mercy. 

He instituted the sacraments. These are the 
sovereign remedies of our souls with which He has 
surrounded us. Baptism is the sacred bath in 
which our souls are cleansed and purified ; the soul 



Tlic Good Samaritan. 269 

draws from it a new life and a second birth more 
glorious than the first. The Eucharist pours out 
upon our heart the wine which strengthens it ; it 
gives us the energy necessary to resist concupis- 
cence and to triumph over our passions. In Con- 
firmation the divine Samaritan spreads on our soul 
the holy oil which soothes and makes it easy for 
our will to accomplish whatever is painful in the 
practice of good. In the tribunal of Penance He 
pours out on our wounded and sin-laden hearts the 
balm which consoles, purifies, and heals. Can you 
ever worthily recognize such an excess of love ? 

The Samaritan descends from his beast and puts 
the poor wounded man in his place. This is a 
striking image of the Redemption wrought on Cal- 
vary. By substituting Himself in our place, Jesus 
has taken on Himself all our iniquities and all our 
miseries. By extending Himself on the cross He 
has suffered for all our wounds, and by dying for 
us He has opened heaven for us, which is the dwell- 
ing of His Father. 

But the final trait of God's mercy for us is the 
institution of His Church. The Samaritan con- 
ducted his wounded guest to the inn, where he took 
care of him ; on the following day he paid all the 
expenses. The inn in which wounded souls re- 
ceive aid and assistance is the Church. There the 
intelligence finds truth in a sublime teaching, 
wounded hearts find assistance in grace, and all 
unfortunates find a solace in the sweetest conso- 
lations. 



270 Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost. 

O Jesus, divine Samaritan, I am that traveller 
whom the robbers have stripped, wounded, and 
left half dead on the roadway of life ; Thou hast 
had pity on me. Thou hast placed me in Thy 
Church, in the midst of the abundance of grace. 
Do not permit that I should be ungrateful enough 
to forget Thy blessings, but crown all Thy graces 
by giving me the strength to profit by them. 



THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

THE TEN LEPERS. 

A S these ten unfortunates of whom the Gospel 
speaks to-day, leprosy stains you also if you 
• • • are a sinner and your soul is disfigured in the 
sight of God. Your healing shall be assured, as 
was theirs, if you know as well as they how to 
profit by the passing of Jesus. Then take them 
for your models, and while reviewing the different 
circumstances which accompanied their healing, 
learn on what conditions you shall obtain your 
own. 

First Point, —Prayer is the first condition to be 
healed from the leprosy of sin. God sometimes 
acts towards the sinner in a manner truly royal. 
He enlightens his mind, touches his heart, and con- 
verts him by an immediate grace without any con- 
dition on the part of the sinner, as He did with St. 
Paul on the way to Damascus. But ordinarily it 
is by prayer we attain to grace, and the first condi- 
tion to be converted is to ask and obtain this grace. 
You have a beautiful instance of this in the Gospel 
narrative concerning the ten lepers. See with 
what humility and with what fervor they implore 
their healing. They do not come to ask for their 



272 Thirteenth Siuiday after Pentecost. 

restoration to health singly ; each one feels his tin- 
worthiness too much to hope to obtain it if he is 
alone ; they therefore unite to give by their union 
greater force to their prayer, and together they 
conjure the Lord to have pity on them. 

Nor do we see them approach the divine Master 
with too much familiarity and imperiously demand 
that their request be complied with. They remain 
at a distance, contenting themselves by uttering 
loud cries to attract the Saviour's attention and to 
win His pity — "Jesus, Teacher, have pity on us.'' 
The first disposition we observe in the conduct 
of the lepers is a respectful humility. This is also 
the sentiment which should rule all others when 
we are in the presence of God. Alas! who are we 
before Thee, O God of sanctity, if not unworthy 
lepers ! Our whole life is only a sequence of shame- 
ful weaknesses, and how shall we dare to approach 
Thee without trembling and with souls which are 
stained by so many faults? 

As soon as the lepers saw that Jesus was within 
sound of their voices they began to cry aloud. They 
cried aloud because they were far from Him, and 
they feared lest they should lose such a splendid 
opportunity. And so, when you feel that you are 
far from God and slothful and dissipated, raise 
your voice and cry to Him. That is not the time 
to relax your exercises of piety, or to cease your 
prayers ; but it is, on the contrary, the time to pro- 
long them, and to pray more ardently. Ah, if you 
could understand the misfortune of being separated 



The Ten Lepers, 273 

from God, with what ardor would you ask for His 
love, what zeal would you bring to the fulfilment 
of all your duties ! 

Second Point, — To the humble and fervent pray- 
ers of the lepers, Jesus answers in words of mercy : 
"Go, show yourselves to the priests.'* The work of 
conversion obtained by prayer is completed in the 
sacraments of which the priests are the only min- 
isters. Without doubt Jesus could heal these 
unfortunate men without imposing on them the con- 
dition of showing themselves to the priests. He 
could also reconcile sinners and pardon them with- 
out the intermediary of His Church, but He did not 
do so except in rare instances, and then the desire 
to receive the sacraments was necessary. The 
rigorous condition is to go and present ourselves to 
the priest. Our healing and consequently our 
salvation are attached to our docility in the fulfil- 
ment of this obligation. 

There are those who prefer those other words of 
the divine Master: "Come to Me, all you that suf- 
fer." They regret that Jesus has placed some inter- 
mediaries between Him and sinners. On this sub- 
ject listen to the teaching of St. Paul : " When Jesus 
was on earth," He permitted sinners, publicans, 
and the sick to approach His sacred person, and He 
healed them ; but now that His mission is accom- 
plished, now that His blood has been shed drop 
by drop, sinners cannot hope to treat with Jesus 
personally. To conciliate His justice with His 

love, Jesus has appointed the priests as mediators 
18 



2 74 Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, 

between Him and the guilty. He has made 
them His ambassadors, He has given to them 
the power, and it is from them that sinners must 
expect their reconciliation. " He has placed in us 
the word of reconciliation/' 

If, then, the leprosy of sin has disfigured your 
soul, the remedy is easy. " Go, show yourself to the 
priest,*' uncover to him the hidden wound which sin 
has made in you ; it shall be quickly closed and you 
shall find peace and life. What is there to hinder 
5^ou? Is it the magnitude of your crimes? They 
can never be as great as His mercy. Is it shame? 
No one should be ashamed to confess his faults. 
The free and generous avowal of a crime not only 
repairs it, but exalts us before God to the very level 
of innocence. Is it fear? Of whom are you afraid? 
Are you afraid of the world ? And what is the judg- 
ment of the world to you? Would you, by chance, 
sacrifice your soul for the world? Is it the fear of 
your confessor? Ah, how poorly you know the 
spirit with which the minister of Christ is clothed ! 
You shall find him a father rather than a judge; 
his lips speak no blame, they know only how to 
bless you. Go, then, with confidence; once this 
first step is taken, you shall see all difficulties 
smoothed away. But go to him with docility! 
Jesus says to the lepers, ''Go to the priests,'* and 
they depart without murmuring, without raising 
the slightest objection, and their submission is re- 
warded by their complete healing. This result is 
infallible in favor of all who know how to bring to 



The Ten Lepers, 275 

the reception of the Sacrament of Penance the dis- 
positions it requires. 

Third Point. — "One of them when he saw that 
he was made clean, went back with a loud voice 
glorifying God, and he fell on his face before His 
feet, giving thanks; and this was a Samaritan/' 
What astonishes and at the same time humiliates us 
is that, of the ten lepers who experienced the bounty 
of the Saviour, only one returns to manifest his 
gratitude, and moreover the Gospel is careful to 
tell us that this one was a Samaritan. And so, too 
often, souls whom we believe lost, men who are 
strangers to faith, hopeless sinners, manifest for 
God more gratitude, more fervor, more love than 
we who boast of our fidelity, and boast also that we 
have never wearied in the ways of virtue. Whence 
comes this inexplicable carelessness? Alas, we 
have become familiarized with the most precious 
graces, accustomed to the wonders of God's love, 
enriched by His benefits, and we have grown in- 
sensible to them all. It is by the blood of Jesus 
that we shall recover health and life, and out of 
ten there is hardly one who is found grateful. 
And thus the heart of Jesus bitterly complains: 
'' Were not ten made clean ? . . . There is no one 
found to return and give glory to God, but this 
stranger," 

To recompense this fidelity, Jesus adds a new 
grace to the first. He said to him : '' Arise, . . . thy 
faith hath made thee whole." He had said to the 
others: "Go, show yourselves to the priests, and 



276 Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, 

you shall be healed ;" but He said to this one : " Thy 
faith hath made thee whole/* 

But was not faith the cause of healing all the 
others ? Unquestionably ; but Jesus wished to estab- 
lish a distinction between physical healing and 
salvation. Ten are healed, but only one is healed 
and saved, because he only had shown gratitude. 
Thus a good confession can heal your soul, but it 
does not suffice to assure your salvation. We must 
return to Jesus in gratitude and remain faithful to 
Him b)^ persevering in His love. It is on this con- 
dition that you shall merit to hear these welcome 
words: ''Arise, ... thy faith hath made thee 
whole." 



FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

" BEHOLD THE LILIES OF THE FIELD AND THE BIRDS 
OF THE air/' 

"l A/HEN Jesus invites us to consider the lilies 
of the field and the birds of heaven, there 
. . . must be useful lessons to learn from them. 
Therefore let us strive to understand and seek to 
know, then, first, what the lilies of the field teach 
you; second, what the birds of the air also teach. 

First Point. — What the lilies teach. The lily is 
a beautiful but fragile flower ; to-day it blooms in 
freshness, to-morrow it shall be withered and dead. 
This is your picture. Your body is as the grass, 
and all its glory is as the flower of the fields. 
Isaias tells you : " The grass has withered and the 
flower has fallen, because the Lord has breathed 
upon it.'* All that is about you, all that is in you 
except your soul, is like to the lily of the field, 
which to-day is alive and to-morrow is dead. You 
should not, therefore, count on the world which 
passes, on man who passes, on youth which passes, 
on beauty which passes, on science which passes — 
for what trust can we give to that which is only 
transitory? 

The beautiful appearance of the lily is the image 
of riches here on earth below ; the rich ornaments 



278 Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost. 

quickly perish. St. James says: "Riches shall 
pass away as the flower of the field. The sun rises 
burning and the grass is parched, and the flower 
has fallen with all its beauty, and thus the rich man 
shall wither in his journey." In fact, are not riches 
destroyed by fire, by shipwreck, and carried off by 
thieves, or, at last, by death? Flowers, however 
fresh and fragrant they are, however sweet and 
agreeable they are, become bitter and withered. 
And so riches are sweet and agreeable as long as 
we possess them, but how bitter they are at the 
moment of losing them ! The flower gladdens your 
eyes for an instant, but it is useless for your life, 
and becomes the food of animals. And so it is with 
riches ; the}^ charm the eyes, but they do not satisfy 
the heart ; and the day comes when strangers or 
ungrateful heirs seize them. They laugh at us 
who have imposed so many privations on ourselves 
to leave them the treasure intact. Hence the wise 
man says: *' I have seen under the sun an evil com- 
mon among men ; it is a man filled with riches, hav- 
ing treasures of honors, but who has not had an 
opportunity of enjoying them ; a stranger has come 
to enjoy them in his place.'' And then he adds: 
" Behold a great sorrow." 

The lily teaches you to put all your confidence 
in God. The Saviour of the world says: "God has 
planted the lilies of the field ; He has watered them, 
preserved them, and adorned them more magnifi- 
cently than Solomon was in all his glory. Now if 
God has taken so much care to clothe and adorn a 



''^Behold the Lilies of the Field.'' 279 

simple flower, liow much more shall He care for 
man, who is the masterpiece of His hands and the 
king of this material creation?'* Therefore have 
confidence in the providence of your heavenly 
Father. 

Jesus, while speaking of the lilies of the field, 
says that which should serve to humiliate us 
immensely. You who have been watered by the 
abundance of His grace, and cultivated with so 
much solicitude, make such little progress in virtue. 
"See how they grow." Under the light and the 
dews of heaven the lily grows and each day be- 
comes more beautiful, while you, instructed by the 
admirable lights of the Gospel, the soul made fruit- 
ful by the dews of grace, you should grow every day 
in virtue, constantly arising from this miserable 
earth to heaven, which is your true country. Do 
you do so? Can it be said of you: "See how they 
grow"? 

Lilies are the ornament of the places in which 
they grow. You should be the ornament of the 
Church in whose bosom you live ; you should shine 
in the world by your virtues. You should be pure 
as the lily and arise towards heaven as the lily, 
and as the lily give forth a sweet perfume — the 
perfume of virtue ; you should heal by your good 
example and soothe by your sweet words the spir- 
itual evils of certain hearts, as the lily heals and 
solaces some wounds of the body. When, there- 
fore, you see the lilies of the field, consider them ; 
reflect on the lessons they teach, and strive to be- 



28o Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost. 

come in the eyes of God and your neighbor a lily 
without stain, embalmed with the perfumes of vir- 
tue, and then you can spread about you the good 
odor of Jesus. 

Second Point, — What do the birds of heaven teach 
us? They teach us to abandon ourselves wholly to 
Providence with the most filial confidence. See 
those little beings whom Providence provides for 
in millions. They neither sow, nor reap, nor 
gather into barns; and yet they live — the heavenly 
Father nourishes them. They have confidence in 
God, and are not anxious, except in moderation, 
concerning their food. They are the poor for whom 
Providence provides; they live from day to day, 
and still no one is richer than they are. They 
make no provisions for the winter, as some other 
animals do, but rely on God, and He has never 
failed them. It is our divine Saviour Himself who 
proposes this example for us, to engage us to put 
aside all solicitude and anxiety for the future ; and 
also to excite us to place in God our fullest confi- 
dence. He adds: "Are you not of more value than 
they?" 

The birds also teach us to raise our thoughts to 
heaven and to live a supernatural and heavenly 
life. Consider that the birds for the most part 
spend a great part of their life in the regions of 
heaven ; they descend on earth only to find their 
food ; they then fly back again to chant the glory 
of their Creator. And we also should have our 
hearts on high; our thoughts and our desires 



"'Behold the Lilies of the Field.'* 281 

should tend constantly to heaven, our souls should 
habitually arise to God on wings of prayer and 
faith. Oh, how beautiful and happy our life would 
be if we knew% as the birds of heaven, how to live 
a life wholly celestial even while we are upon 
earth ! to sing the praises of God even while watch- 
ing over our temporal interests ! Then we should 
use the things of the world " as if we used them 
not." This detachment is most suitable for beings 
who have been created for heaven, where they ex- 
pect an eternity of happiness, and not for this 
earth, where everything is perishable. 

Begin, therefore, to cultivate sentiments which 
are truly Christian ; place your fullest confidence in 
God, who clothes the lily of the field with so much 
glory and who gives so abundantly the food for the 
birds of heaven. Do not forget that you are hon- 
ored by the title of the child of God, you are pur- 
chased by the blood of the Son of God, you are 
destined to possess God in heaven, and, conse- 
quently, that you are of more value than all the 
flowers of the field, all the birds of heaven — yes, 
you are of greater worth than the whole world. It 
is to recall your noble destiny that Jesus wishes 
you while praying to say : " Our Father who art in 
heaven." It is also to afford you an opportunity 
of meriting reward that God gives you clothing and 
food and health and life. Be grateful therefore 
for all these gifts, and testify your gratitude by a 
holy life— by a life worthy of the heaven which 
awaits you. 



FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

THE widow's son RESTORED TO LIFE. 

IN the resurrection of the widow's son we should 
consider what grace does for sinners, and what 
• the sinner should do to correspond with this 
grace. 

First Point. — What grace does for sinners. This 
young man, whom death has taken in the very 
flower of his age, is the image of so many young 
persons who are deprived of sanctifying grace by 
sin and whose spiritual death is more terrible than 
that which merely destroys the life of the body. 
This desolate mother who accompanies to its last 
dwelling-place the inanimate body of her son is 
the Church; she is our mother; since she has be- 
gotten us in Christ in our infancy she has nour- 
ished us by her first lessons, and she does not 
cease to instruct and exhort us, and she labors un- 
tiringly to make us grow in virtue and in piety. 
This tender mother follows with her tears all her 
unfortunate children whom the sad stroke of sin 
has robbed of the life of grace. And even when 
all hope seems lost she does not abandon them ; she 
asks them again from Jesus by her sighs and tears. 
Touched by her sorrow, Jesus is moved at the sad 



The Widow's Son Restored to Life, 283 

condition of an unfortunate sinner whom the pas- 
sions conduct to hell. 

Jesus drew near. This is the first condition of a 
return to God and virtue. Unhappy beings as we 
are by our own depraved will, we can indeed go far 
from God and hasten to our destruction; but to 
leave the ways of iniquity, or even to desire to do it, 
is the effect of grace. How good God is! Insulted 
and outraged by sinners, He had no need to avenge 
Himself, but merely to abandon them to them- 
selves. Still He does not wish to do so. He selects 
them, pursues them, and urges them to return to 
Him and save themselves. " He drew near and 
touched the bier." Thus it is that Jesus touches the 
sinner by the good sentiments with which He in- 
spires him. He disturbs him by remorse, He enlight- 
ens him by good counsels, He encourages him by 
holy examples. He terrifies him by the fear of death 
and by the judgment which follows. 

By this secret touch of grace conscience is 
awakened as if from a long sleep, and the passions 
which were dragging him down are arrested. The 
sinner begins to find pleasures not so pleasant and 
the world not so lovable ; he stops short in the midst 
of the excitement which carries him away. This is 
the moment when grace is at work ; it is the moment 
when she may make her voice heard. Alas, as long 
as the sinner is dissipated by pleasures, preoccupied 
by human interests, absorbed by business, he sins 
and he perseveres in his sin. This terrible indiffer- 
ence can be explained only by a want of reflection ; 



284 Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost. 

but at the moment he reflects he is saved. The 
prodigal child perceived neither his ingratitude, 
nor his degradation, nor the rags which covered 
him, as long as he was absorbed by pleasures ; but 
it was in his misfortune that he reflected, and that 
one inward glance sufiiced to reveal to him all his 
shame and to lead him back to his father. And 
so it is with the sinful soul : hardly has she been 
arrested, hardly has she looked upon herself than 
Jesus makes her hear His voice, which shall recall 
her as it recalled the young man from death in the 
city of Naim — "Young man, I say to thee, arise.** 

Young man, you who are meditating on these 
words, you are only on the threshold of your ca- 
reer. You may think that you are proof against 
the stroke of death ; the world tells you to take ad- 
vantage of your youth, to crown yourself with roses 
while they are fresh and in bloom ; but the world 
deceives you. This young man whom they carried 
to the tomb was as young as you. The funeral 
cortege which accompanied him proves that he was 
rich. He was as you are — the idol of his mother, 
the only son, but nothing could guarantee him 
from death. To you, as to him, Jesus speaks these 
words: "I, thy Master, command you to arise from 
sin and to break the bonds which hold you in 
slavery. I say to thee, arise!" May you be docile 
to this voice, which calls you to life by recalling you 
to virtue. 

Second Point.— ^\i2i\. the sinner should do to cor- 
respond with grace. The first thing which the 



The Widozv' s Son Restored to Life, 285 

young man does when he feels himself restored is 
to arise in obedience to the command his Liberator 
has given him. This promptitude to correspond 
with grace as soon as it is felt is one of the most 
essential conditions of conversion. Everything is 
possible to the will when it is excited by grace, en- 
lightened by its light, and inflamed by the holy 
ardor which the divine Spirit spreads in it when He 
communicates Himself to it. Then the strongest 
bonds are easily broken ; remember Magdalen at 
the feet of Jesus. The greatest obstacles are over- 
come by the wise men journeying far to follow the 
star which leads them to Bethlehem. The most 
violent passions are conquered. St. Paul becomes 
a vessel of election, after having been the most 
ardent persecutor ! 

Now, why are so many sermons sterile and un- 
fruitful? Why do so many graces remain unprofit- 
able? Is it because the preachers are wanting in 
eloquence? No. There are indeed some truths 
which require to be presented in a certain manner 
to strike some souls ; but is there need of having 
recourse to the artifices of eloquence to tell you 
that you must die, that you shall be judged, that 
there are a hell and an eternity? Is it because 
hearts are too hardened ? Not a year passes that 
some sinners are not touched and their hearts 
moved, and yet very few are converted. And why? 
Because very few profit by the moment of grace. 
They hesitate, they defer, they put off — the light 
disappears, grace is withdrawn, and they remain 



286 Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, 

irresolute and in their weakness. They are doubly 
unfortunate men, because they conceive the most 
generous projects and cannot attain the point of 
realizing them. 

The Evangelist observes that the young man 
after his restoration began to speak. Of course his 
first words were the expressions of his gratitude, 
the declaration of his resurrection, and the request 
to those who carried him to set him free. Such 
should be the language of the sinner whom Divine 
Mercy deigns to withdraw from the state of death 
in which he had been plunged. Penetrated by the 
immense benefit which he had so little merited, he 
should from the bottom of his heart return grateful 
thanksgiving to his Benefactor. But this is not 
enough. He should put away and reject far from 
him all that which hitherto, by leading him into 
sin, conducted him to hell. Occasions, habits, af- 
fections — he must quit them all. In fine, he is 
obliged to manifest his resurrection by the splen- 
dor of his virtues. The greater the scandal of his 
sinful life, the greater should be the edification of 
his new life. 

Jesus crowns His work by restoring the young 
man to his mother. You may judge by the tears 
she shed over this cherished son what was her care 
to preserve for him the life he had just recovered 
by removing the cause which occasioned its loss. 
Jesus likewise confides to the Church those whom 
He has drawn from spiritual death, and this tender 
mother surrounds them by her care. She instructs 



The Widoiv' s Son Res toiled to Life. 287 

them by her lessons, sustains them by her exhorta- 
tions, strengthens them by her sacraments, and 
hinders them from falling again into death. If 
ever you have the misfortune of losing the life of 
grace, do not despair; but be generous in your cor- 
respondence to the goodness of God when He shall 
recall you to Him. 



SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

ON HUMILITY. 

/^UR divine Saviour allowed no occasion to pass 
by without extolling humility ; and it must be 
• • • admitted that it is the base, the foundation 
of all the other virtues. We shall consider it to- 
day in its different kinds and in its object. 

First Point, — The different kinds of humility. 
The first is the humility of the heart. It consists 
in voluntarily embracing the practices of humility ; 
in not taking offence at calumnies; in not being 
angered by humiliations ; and in not being offended 
by injuries. It goes even farther in the most fer- 
vent Christians. We have seen the saints desire 
to be humiliated, to cherish affronts, and to re- 
joice at being contemned and despised. St. John 
of the Cross asked of Our Lord but one grace, viz., 
to suffer and to be despised for His love. Alas! 
how far you are from these sentiments, you who 
are so sensitive to an injury, so particular about 
preferences, and so susceptible when your self-love 
is wounded! Do not forget that self-love is the 
principle of almost all the faults which stain the 
soul in the eyes of God, of all the defects which 
make piety odious in the eyes of men, and of all 



On Humility. 289 

the caprices which dishonor a Christian in the eyes 
of the world. Strive, therefore, to destroy, if not 
completely, at least to weaken, this terrible enemy, 
which has such a firm hold on your whole being. 
To accomplish this end, profit by the countless 
little occasions where your self-love is hurt to do 
violence to it ; each humiliation generously borne 
is a blow which shall weaken your enemy and pre- 
pare you for a complete victory. 

The second kind of humility is the humility of 
speech. The precepts of the Gospel and the max- 
ims of the world equally recommend this ; the sen- 
timent of decent propriety should suffice to engage 
us to be faithful to it. He who extols himself 
should feel that he is doing just what degrades 
him. He seeks admiration, and he finds contempt 
only. He wishes to make himself important, and 
he renders himself only ridiculous. It is astonish- 
ing the disgust which boasting inspires — it is so 
universal and so common. How does it happen 
that the criticisms and railleries which are heard 
on every side concerning vain men do not correct 
their vanity? They are, therefore, very blind. 

Besides openly boasting, there is another manner 
of praising one's self which is more skilful but no 
less reprehensible. It consists in not naming one's 
self, but allowing every one to perceive who is 
praised. He does not eulogize his good works, but 
takes care to make them known. It is rarely that 
this refinement deceives men. Their own pride 
makes them see clearly the pride of others, and 
19 



290 Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, 

instead of the esteem they craved for, the vain in- 
spire only mistrust and contempt. 

The third kind of humility is humility in ac- 
tions. Our divine Saviour especially recommends 
this in the Gospel of to-day when He says : " When 
you are invited to a banquet take the last place.'' 
This precept finds its application not only at the 
banquet, but it extends to all the circumstances of 
life. It condemns the desire of self-exaltation and 
commanding, which is one of the most common 
sentiments and one of the most dangerous among 
men. They wish for the first place in the affec- 
tions, and hence the love of dress and all the arti- 
fices of vanity. Not only do they wish for the 
affections, but they wish for them to the exclusion 
of every one else, and hence jealousies and bitter 
disappointments. They wish to excel all others by 
their success and triumphs, and hence rivalries 
among equals and accusations of injustice against 
superiors. It is to the desire of self-exaltation 
and of ruling we must attribute almost all the op- 
positions to authority in the family and almost all 
the crimes which are committed in society. Ac- 
custom your pride to submission, and 5^our self-love 
to endure humiliations ; then you shall destroy the 
principle of many faults, and dry up the source of 
many bitter disappointments. 

Second Point.— The object of humility. You 
should be humble in your own eyes. The first 
degree of humility is nothing else than the knowl- 
edge of yourself, of your frailty, of your inclina- 



On Hmnility, 291 

tion to evil, your passions, your vices. This 
knowledge of your misery which your experience 
gives and which faith reveals to you, should it not 
force you to be humble? How can you be so pre- 
sumptuous when you are so weak? How can you 
dare to nourish thoughts of pride when you have 
so much to blush for? How can you afford to re- 
sent some affront when you are so worthy of con- 
tempt ? How can you love yourself when you are 
so unlovable ? 

Does this kind of humility consist in denying 
that there is something good in you and not seeing 
the advantages you have above others either in 
wealth or in mind? Not at all. Humility is not 
falsehood. The truly humble heart never forgets 
that its good qualities, its talents, and its virtues 
are the gifts of God. It knows that all that it is, 
all the good it has done, comes from God ; conse- 
quently it cannot assume any vanity whatever. 
Does it witness the fall of one of its friends? It 
thinks that if God had placed it in the same cir- 
cumstances as this man, without giving it the most 
abundant graces, it would fall perhaps into the 
most criminal excesses. The two considerations of 
the concupiscence which it feels and the grace it 
experiences ; concupiscence leading it to evil, and 
grace which alone retains it in well-doing; con- 
cupiscence which it can with difficulty resist and 
grace to which it is so difficult to respond — these 
two considerations retain the heart in humility and 
hinder it from rising above others less favored and 



292 Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, 

committing greater sins than itself. Thus it is 
that the humble heart, while not forgetting that it 
is exalted above others, does not glorify itself, but 
refers all honor to God, the Source of all good. 

You should be humble before God. This duty 
need only be exposed to be believed. You would 
strive in vain to form even a remote idea of the 
infinite distance which separates man from God. 
How then can we express what it is not possible 
for us to conceive? We are but nothingness, while 
God is the Sovereign Being. We are only weak- 
ness ; God is Omnipotence ! We are only sinners ; 
God is Sanctity itself. It is this last consideration 
which should especially profoundly humiliate us 
before Him. Yes, we should be more ashamed of 
our corruption than of our frailty; of our ingrati- 
tude than of our nothingness; everything should 
humiliate us before God ; everything — even the re- 
membrance of what He has done to exalt us. 
Have we not abused His very gifts? 

You should be humble in your thoughts with re- 
gard to your neighbor. Humility forbids all con- 
tempt for others and all pretension to superiority. 
To see the justice of this rule which humility im- 
poses, consider that your thoughts of pre-eminence 
come from the superiority which you think you 
have over others, whether they are in the order of 
nature or the order of religion. If they are tem- 
poral advantages — riches, beauty, birth, talents — 
which raise you above others in your thoughts, 
how futile they are? How small is the difference 



On Humility. 293 

that these distinctions make between one man 
and another. They are like to the bubbles which 
children make and which ascend in the air; they 
are dissipated and dissolved in the moment they 
appear. 

If you esteem yourself more than others by rea- 
son of advantages in the religious order — virtue, 
good works, and piety — while the motive would 
have some solidity, it would not have, in you, more 
justice. What have you, the Apostle asks, that you 
have not received ? And if you have received it, 
how do you dare to glory in it as if it had come 
from you? Your pride is more than ridiculous; it 
is unjust, since you rob God of the glory which is 
due to Him. 

O my God, all that I am and all that I have come 
from Thy grace ; do not permit that I abuse Thy 
gifts to offend Thee, but grant that all that is in 
me may serve to glorify Thee. 



SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

MOTIVES FOR LOVING JESUS. 

\A/HEN we seek for motives to love men, we must 
look for them outside and beyond them, but 
• • • when we seek for motives to love Jesus, we 
shall find them within Him, in His own sacred 
person. St. Bernard wished for no other motive 
for loving God than God Himself; and we must say 
also of Jesus that we must love Him because He is 
sovereignly amiable. 

First Point. — He has, in all its perfection, all ex- 
ternal beauty. Human nature, in fact, is found in 
Jesus in all its primitive purity, in all its perfect 
beauty — such as it came originally from the hands 
of God, since His divine body is the masterpiece of 
the Holy Ghost, who has formed it in the chaste 
womb of the Blessed Virgin. Besides, Jesus is 
called "the most beautiful of the children of men.*' 
David, to whom was given the happiness of seeing 
this ravishing figure of Christ across the centuries, 
is so struck by it, that he promises Him dominion 
over all hearts, the conquest of the universe, and 
without any other arms than His own marvellous 
beauty. He said: "Go, most beautiful of men, 
with your admirable beauty, with your good grace 
so natural to you, advance, combat, and reign." 



Motives for Loving Jesus. 295 

" Consider,'* says Bossuet, '' the Caesars, the Alex- 
anders, and all the other destroyers of provinces 
who are called conquerors. God does not send 
them to earth except in His fury. Their victories 
are the sorrow and despair of widows and orphans. 
They triumph over public ruin and desolation. 
Ah, but it is not so with my Prince. He is the 
Captain Saviour, who saves the people because He 
has conquered them, and He conquers them by 
dying for them. He employs neither fire nor 
sword in subjugating them; He combats by bless- 
ings, by all-powerful attractions and by invincible 
charms.'' 

Although only a child, Jesus exercised even then 
this irresistible empire. He is born in a stable and 
lies in a crib, and shepherds prostrate at His feet 
and adore Him. The Wise Men from the extrem- 
ity of the East offer Him their most precious pres- 
ents. Hardly had He been presented in the temple 
than the holy old man Simeon takes Him in his 
arms, and, pressing Him to his aged heart, asks to 
die. He said: "Why should I wish to remain 
longer on earth, since my eyes have seen the De- 
sired of nations?" At an age more advanced, does 
it not seem that they who had the happiness of 
knowing Him should say when sorrows fell upon 
them,.*' Let us go and see the Son of Mary," and 
they would return consoled for having seen Him? 

In heaven the contemplation of His beauty is the 
happiness of the blessed spirits, and it is also the 
sweetest consolation for the just on earth. Hear 



296 Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost. 

the tender and affectionate words of St. Augustine: 
*' For me, wherever I behold my Saviour, His 
beauty is always a charm. He is beautiful in hea- 
ven as He is beautiful on earth ; He is beautiful in 
the bosom of His Father, and He is beautiful in 
the arms of Mary His Mother. He is beautiful 
in His miracles and He is no less beautiful under 
the scourges of the Jews. He has a grace unparal- 
leled whether He invites lis to life or when He de- 
spises death. Even on the cross He is beautiful, 
and everywhere He is worthy of love.'* 

Jesus possesses the beauty of eloquence and the 
grace of language. The Psalmist had predicted of 
Him that ''grace should be on His lips." In fact, 
the parables which fell from His sacred lips 
charmed the multitudes; they followed Him in 
crowds, and the pleasure of hearing Him made 
them forget to provide for their ordinary wants 
and nourishment. While hearing Him the people 
said: ''Never has any one spoken as He has;'' and 
the mothers exclaimed : " Blessed is the womb that 
bore Thee and the breasts that nourished Thee!" 
By His simple word He subjugated the most indo- 
cile mind, and imposed silence on His enemies. 
He commanded men to follow Him, and the chil- 
dren whom He called did not delay, not even to 
give to their fathers the duties of sepulture. He 
asked of His apostles, who were astonished at the 
profound mysteries of His doctrine, if they too 
would abandon Him, and they answered by pros- 
trating themselves at His feet. " Where shall we 



Motives fo7' Loving J e sits. 297 

go? Thou alone hast the words of eternal life." And 
it is especially when He speaks of the glory of His 
Father that Jesus is admirable. When the proph- 
ets, says Massillon, speak of God, the expressions 
lack the magnificence of their ideas ; they exhaust 
the weakness of human language to respond to the 
grandeur of Him whom they endeavor to depict. 
This shows the infinite disproportion which exists 
between the immensity of the Supreme Being and 
the feebleness of the human mind ; and the most 
pompous terms are never sufficient to express their 
admiration. But when Jesus speaks of the glory of 
His Father, He does so with a familiarity and a 
simplicity of language which suppose in Him a 
sublimity of knowledge which renders the idea of 
the Sovereign Being familiar. It is easy to see 
that it is the Child who speaks the language of His 
household. The children of kings speak of scep- 
tres and crowns in a simple, familiar manner, and, 
also, it is only the eternal Son of the living God 
who can speak so familiarly of the glory of God 
His Father. 

Jesus has the beauty of virtue. There is no vir- 
tue of which He has not given us the precept and 
example. He alone among all the legislators and 
all the moral doctors has instructed better by His 
example than by His words. All His words and 
all His acts breathe only humility, charity, and 
goodness. He is born in the midst of men, and it 
is to inspire them with a contempt for riches and 
a love for poverty ; His palace is a stable and a man- 



298 Seventeenth Sufiday after Pentecost, 

ger serves Him for a cradle ; He passes thirty years 
hidden in the house of a simple artisan, and when 
He begins His public life the first words which fall 
from His sacred lips are the beatification of pov- 
erty—" Blessed are the poor/* They wish to make 
Him King, but He hides Himself by flight from 
the enthusiasm of the people. His omnipotence 
multiplies prodigies and His modesty forbids the 
sick to say that He has healed them. He is the ob- 
ject of the most odious accusations, of the bloodiest 
outrages; still He permits Himself to be outraged 
and calumniated without uttering a word of com- 
plaint or in self -justification. 

The charity of Jesus equals His humility. In the 
study of His life it would be difficult to say which 
of these two virtues shone forth in Him with greater 
splendor. Two of His disciples wish to call down 
from heaven the fiercest fire on a city which had 
refused to receive them. But He said: ''Ye know 
not of what spirit ye are. The Son of man has 
come not to destroy souls, but to save them.'' He 
calls to Him the little children, places them on His 
knees, embraces them, blesses them, and then gives 
them back to their happy mothers. He allows the 
greatest sinners to approach Him, and speaks to 
them only in kindness. He sends away without 
condemnation the woman who was taken in the 
commission of sin, and consoles the penitent Mag- 
dalen. All His miracles are blessings, and one of 
the witnesses of His life sums it up with as much 
nobleness as simplicity in saying: '' He went about 



Motives for Loving Jesus. 299 

doing good." The splendor of His virtues can 
alone explain the strange dominion which Jesus 
exercised on whomsoever He approached. They 
with whom He dwelt were unwilling He should 
depart. '' They detained Him, lest He should leave 
them." Philip speaks to Nathaniel of the Messias: 
"What good can come from Nazareth?" ''Come," 
Philip said to him, ''and see for yourself;" and 
when he had seen Him : " Ah, Thou art truly the 
Messias, the Son of God," and he became one of 
His most fervent disciples. 

In fine, Jesus possessed the beauty of self-sacri- 
fice. More than beauty, more than eloquence, 
more than virtue itself, self-sacrifice excites our 
enthusiasm and triumphs over every resistance. 
Well for you — yes, for you, the Son of God, the Cre- 
ator of the world, the Sovereign Lord of all things 
has become man ; He has become a little child ; 
He has suffered hunger, thirst, poverty, and the 
contempt of men ; His very love has nailed Him to 
a cross ! 

O soul redeemed by His blood, here acknowl- 
edge your crime if you do not love such a Bene- 
factor! O Lord Jesus, make me love Thee. Thou 
hast become my Father, for Thou hast given me 
life of intelligence, the life of grace, and eternal 
life; Thou hast become my Brother by Thy hu- 
manity, the Spouse of my soul by the union which 
Thou hast contracted with me in Baptism. Be 
then the King of my heart ; it is to Thee only that 
I am devoted. Thy love shall be my life, Thy law 



300 Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost. 

shall be my law ; I shall sing Thy praises and 
never shall I cease to proclaim Thy mercies. I 
wish to be faithful to Thee; I wish to belong to 
Thee without reserve. I wish to consecrate to 
Thee all my cares ; I wish to live and to die in Thy 
service. 



EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

JESUS HEALS THE PARALYTIC. 

IN the paralytic healed so miraculously by Jesus, 
the holy doctors see the image of spiritual para- 
lytics, in whom sin has exhausted the sources 
of supernatural life, or in whom tepidity has 
stopped its activity. In the zeal which these men 
display who are so afflicted, they find two circum- 
stances worthy of our meditations, viz., the condi- 
tions and the signs of a sincere return to God. 

First Point, — Conditions of a sincere return to 
God. These men whom the Holy Spirit here pre- 
sents to us as models have with difficulty come to 
Jesus. They are stopped at the door of the house 
by a multitude whom all their efforts cannot resist. 
But their zeal is not lessened. Their ingenious 
charity finds another way to Him. Rather, He to 
whom faith conducts them suggests the way they 
must follow. And you also must expect to find 
obstacles in your return to Jesus. The enemy of 
your salvation vShall oppose your return by the 
illusions of the world, the seductions of pleasures, 
the authority of examples, vain words, the fear of 
opinions, and foolish railleries. 

But it is in yourself especially that you shall find 
the most dangerous arms. They are the •ardent 



30 2 Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, 

passions which you must repress, agreeable in- 
clinations which you must reform, flattering 
tastes which you must abandon, cherished associa- 
tions which you must break, and inveterate habits 
which you must overcome. Imagination, which 
still more increases the difficulty, terrifies you ; only 
the idea of efforts to be made prevents even the 
first step. Alas! how much this sad fear of con- 
test against one's self puts to flight the courageous 
resolutions and renders void the most salutary 
projects. 

If the sick man of whom there is now question was 
discouraged; if, yielding to obstacles, he stopped 
short; if, despairing of reaching Jesus, he had 
ceased to seek Him, the unfortunate man would 
have been a victim to his infirmity during his life ; 
and, what is more deplorable still, he would die 
laden by his sins. This is the condition of sinners 
whom sloth restrains at the very outset of their 
penitential career, or whom weakness prevents 
from performing it. Indeed, we should mistrust 
ourselves, but can we not confide in God? He has 
promised us His assistance; shall we doubt His 
fidelity? Implore this assistance with which you 
cannot fail to triumph, but think that it is to your 
efforts that God shall grant it. He wishes to sup- 
ply for your weakness, but not for your will. He 
consents to aid you, but He commands that you 
shall begin to act. He adds to your strength what 
is wanting, but He requires that such as it is you 
must employ it. See the paralytic who is pre- 



Jes7ts Heals the Paralytic. 303 

sented for your model. He strives to come to Jesus 
with all the strength of which he is capable; in 
his inability to go and cast himself at the feet of 
Jesus he puts himself in the hands of charitable 
persons who carry him there. Imitate him ; if your 
soul, paralyzed by a long sequence of sins, feels 
no longer able to endure their weight and can only 
give forth vain desires, entrust yourself to a zealous 
director. He shall guide you, he shall carry you 
if it is necessary, even to the feet of your Re- 
deemer. His science shall enlighten you, his ex- 
perience shall guide you, and his charity shall sus- 
tain you. What you think you are unable to do he 
shall teach you ; and what you really cannot do he 
shall do for you. His prayers, which are agreeable 
to God, shall make yours heard. He shall be at 
once the happy mediator who shall obtain your 
pardon and the merciful judge who shall pro- 
nounce it. 

Second Point. — Signs of a true conversion. In 
healing the paralytic, Jesus gives him three dif- 
ferent commands which announce the different 
characters of the conversion of a sinner. He com- 
mands him to arise, to take up his bed, and to re- 
turn into his house. 

The first mark by which we recognize that a sin- 
ner is truly converted is when his soul, once lifted 
up to God, is no longer grovelling in the things of 
earth, and, strongly maintaining itself, it remains 
with constancy in the state of rectitude in which 
grace has placed it. We do not consider the sick 



304 Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, 

man cured when each time he strives to rise he 
falls back through want of vigor. We must pro- 
nounce the same judgment on a soul whose feeble 
efforts to arise, not having the necessary strength, 
are continually followed by relapses. Is not this 
the judgment we must pronounce on you — you 
who make of your life a continual alternation of 
penance and sin ? You have not the courage to cut 
loose entirely from the world ; you have not the 
generosity to give yourself entirely to God ; you 
are tossed about successively from your fears to 
your weakness. Do you think you have recovered 
health when you take in the way of salvation only 
wavering steps and when the least obstacle disturbs 
you and casts you down? "Arise,*' said the Sav- 
iour ; but remember that a relapse is worse than the 
original malady, because, already weakened, you 
have less strength to bear this and to accept the 
remedies. 

In the bed which Jesus commanded the paralytic 
to take away, the fathers see the symbol of habits, 
affections, and the passions to which the soul was 
addicted while she was paralyzed. There she rests, 
there she languishes, there she remains, incapable 
of movement. After her conversion the objects of 
her affections become for her a burden. Her crime 
was to taste of the pleasure, and a part of her 
penance shall be to feel its burden. Sinful soul, 
do not hesitate to take up this bed of miseries to 
which you were so long confined. You must take 
it up, or you shall continue to lie upon it. But take 



Jesus Heals the Paralytic, 305 

courage. Your burden shall become less heavy in 
proportion to your willingness to carry it ; your pas- 
sions will continue to torment you, especially in 
the beginning of your conversion, but they will 
grow weaker in the measure you resist them, and 
you shall regain the dominion over yourself. 

Jesus commanded the paralytic to return to his 
house. This is also the command He gives to a 
converted soul. By sin she went out from herself 
to give herself to creatures ; her conversion should 
consist principally in re-entering herself and re- 
maining there constantly recollected. This sep- 
aration from dangerous objects, this interior re- 
treat, are at once the precious effects, the manifest 
sign, and the assured guarantee of a solid penance. 
Those sinners are not truly converted whom we 
see, after some equivocal marks of repentance, not 
avoiding the occasions which led them to sin, form- 
ing again those associations which were their ruin, 
and returning to the pleasures which corrupted 
them. You see the most perfect, just those inno- 
cent souls that have never been stained by a mortal 
sin, tremble at the approach of the world and fear 
its empoisoned breath lest the delicate flower of 
purity should be withered. And you, who with the 
knowledge of your weakness and the experience of 
all your falls should stand in fear and in continual 
circumspection — you imprudently expose yourself to 
the contagion by which you were so often at- 
tacked, and again expose yourself to the danger to 

which you have so often succumbed ! How can you 
20 



3o6 Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost. 

think that your desires of virtue are sincere? Fly, 
therefore, from the world, where everything is a 
pitfall for your virtue ; and, if you are obliged to 
live in it, make a solitude for yourself, where you 
can often enter — there to purify your soul from 
the vile dust by which the commerce of the world 
surely soils even the most religious hearts. 



NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

THE WEDDING-FEAST. 

I jNDER the emblena of the King who, desiring 
to celebrate the wedding-feast of his son, 
• • sends his servants with a command to invite 
the guests, we must recognize God Himself. He 
wishes to celebrate the wedding-feast of the Lamb, 
that is to say, the union of Jesus with His Church, 
His well-beloved spouse. It is by faith that we 
acquire the right to celebrate the mysterious nup- 
tials of the Lamb, since it is by faith that we be- 
come members of the Church and by it we are 
spiritually united with Jesus in the world while 
expecting to be perfectly united with Him in 
heaven. The invitation of the King who calls us 
to the wedding festival of His Son is the vocation 
to the faith, by which we are admitted to a sublime 
vocation, an inestimable blessing which is the prin- 
ciple of every other, and which, if we correspond 
to it, shall procure for us all blessings. That which 
the Apostle St. Paul only asks of the faithful of 
Ephesus is that they should walk in a manner 
worthy of their vocation. It is also what God asks 
of us, and it seems to be the first duty which voca- 
tion to the faith imposes on us. How many men 
who have had the misfortune to be deprived of this 



3o8 Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, 

signal favor would know better than we how to 
profit by it? On the day of judgment they shall be 
compared with you. It is Jesus Himself who tells 
you this, and they shall experience an indulgence 
very different from the rigor with which you shall 
be treated. 

The King sent his servants to those who had 
been invited, but they refused to come. He sent 
a second time, and bade his servants say to the 
guests : '' Behold, my banquet is ready ; come to the 
wedding. But they neglected, and went their way, 
one to his farm and another to his merchandise; 
and the rest laid hands on them and put them to 
death." These words reveal to us in all its extent 
the goodness with which God acts in our regard, 
and especially the goodness He manifested towards 
the Jews. He had invited them to the nuptials of 
His Son. Was it then necessary that He should 
invite them again? The choice which God had 
made of them to be His particular people, the ad- 
vantage He had given them over all other nations 
by making them know His holy name, by making 
them the depositaries of His sacred promises — 
should not this bind them to God irrevocably? 
Should it be necessary, after giving them His law, 
for God to send them again His servants and raise 
up prophets to remind them of His commandments 
and lead them to their observance? 

However, we see Him constantly renewing His 
entreaties; to His neglected warnings He added 
new ones, and with a goodness which only He 



TJie Wedding-Feast, 309 

could manifest. And in the midst of all the wit- 
nesses of His merciful goodness we see this priv- 
ileged people almost ahvays unfaithful, ignoring 
the hand from which they received all goods, and 
falling from one idolatry to another. In the desert, 
even when their mouths were filled with the 
manna, they blasphemed Him w^ho nourished them, 
and in their Deicide the Israelites did not cease to 
repay by innumerable outrages the countless bless- 
ings with which God had filled them. Such enor- 
mous ingratitude astonishes you, and, in fact, it 
should surprise you, if you were not obliged to 
make the same reproaches against yourselves. 
Alas, how many graces have you received from 
God. And how have you repaid them? When 
has He ceased to be kind and have you ceased 
to be ungrateful ? Every moment of your life is a 
blessing, and almost every moment is an injury to 
Him. 

The excuses alleged by the guests represent the 
reasons which hinder so many Christians from re- 
sponding to the invitations of God. In some it is 
their interest in temporal things, their care for 
self-aggrandizement; their desire of augmenting 
their possessions and increasing their fortune ab- 
sorbs them. In others it is dissipation and pleas- 
ure ; they are solely occupied in passing the present 
life agreeably ; they never reflect on the future life ; 
their whole idea is to make for themselves one 
round of pastime and amusement ; or, rather, they 
have no fixed or settled idea — they think only of 



3IO Ninetee7ith Sunday after Pentecost, 

enjoying present goods in the measure that they 
present themselves. They run from one amuse- 
ment to another, flying from the weariness which 
pursues them, and this weariness often attacks 
them in the very midst of their pleasures. 

To these two classes of men, who neglect for 
frivolous objects the honor which the King wished 
to do them, Jesus adds a third, which unites cruelty 
with indifference; they seize the servants of the 
King, outrage them, and put them to death. Here 
you see the Jews who, after delivering Jesus into 
the hands of the executioners, become the most 
bitter persecutors of His disciples and apostles. 
When they could, they persecuted the disciples and 
put them to death ; when they could not do this 
themselves, they raised up persecutors, urging the 
Gentiles against them and exciting the magistrates 
to shed their blood. 

By the terrible vengeance which the King took 
on the murderers, Jesus makes manifest allusion 
to the vengeance He shall take later on the crimes 
of which the Jewish nation was guilty towards Him 
and His disciples. The army of which He speaks 
is the army of Vespasian, who delivered Jerusalem 
to the flames, exterminating the inhabitants and 
dispersing the remainder of the Jewish people. 

But it was not only the Jews who persecuted the 
servants of Jesus. The annals of the Church re- 
cord many other persecutions which she endured 
in different countries and at different times. They 
were bloody persecutions, and they were followed 



The Wedding-Feast. 311 

by persecution of another kind — less cruel, indeed, 
but perhaps more dangerous and more to be feared 
because it is perpetual and without interruption. 
It is the bitterness with which the enemies of God 
pursue by their calumnies, their outrages, their 
defamations, and their railleries those who practise 
virtue. Arm yourself with courage to resist this 
kind of persecution, and remain faithful to your 
God in spite of all the obstacles which you must 
overcome. 

The King enters the banquet-hall to scrutinize 
the guests. This is a figure of the judgment we 
must undergo at the moment when, departing from 
the militant Church, we shall go to join the Church 
triumphant. The garment with which you must 
be clothed to assist at the nuptials of the Lamb 
represents sanctifying grace, received in Baptism 
or recovered by Penance. It is this nuptial robe 
which St. Paul had in view when he said to the 
faithful of Colossa: " Put ye on, as the elect of God, 
the bonds of mercy, goodness, humility, modesty, 
patience, and, above all, have charity, which is the 
bond of perfection.'* 

It is the King Himself who perceives a man 
seated at His banquet who has not on the nuptial 
robe. Nothing escapes the eye of God, before whom 
everything is naked and uncovered. Do not flatter 
yourself to be able, when you shall present your- 
self at His tribunal, to conceal anything from Him. 
The Supreme Judge can neither be deceived nor 
seduced. To punish the boldness of this rash man 



312 Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost. 

who had dared to sit at table without a nuptial gar- 
ment, God caused him to be cast into exterior dark- 
ness, the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. 
Behold the inevitable destiny of those who die im- 
penitent. 

O my God, Thou hast called me to the faith, 
Thou hast called me to take part in Thy Church, to 
enter into participation of all its riches ; Thou hast 
given me a right to Thy inheritance and to Thy 
kingdom ; Thou hast called me to sit down at the 
delightful banquet which Thou hast prepared for 
Thy elect. O my God, give me the grace to pre- 
ciously preserve the nuptial robe in which Thou 
hast clothed me at Baptism, and, if I have the mis- 
fortune to lose it by sin, then help me to recover it 
in the Sacrament of Penance. 



TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

JESUS HEALS THE SON OF THE OFFICER. 

IN the Gospel of to-day we are called upon to con- 
sider the zeal and the ardor of the officer of Ca- 
• pharnaum. He hastens to the Saviour to ask the 
healing of his son, and we cannot fail to observe 
his lively faith and the graces he received from Our 
Lord Jesus Christ. 

First Point, — "An officer whose son was sick at 
Capharnaum, having heard that Jesus had come from 
Judea to Galilee, went to Him and begged Him to 
come and heal his son.*' This officer had a son, 
the object of all his tenderness, who was sick ; the 
malady was so violent that there was no hope of 
his restoration except by a miracle. Jesus had al- 
ready done a great number of miracles in this city, 
but He had left it. What a sad plight for this un- 
happy father, on the point of losing all that was 
dearest to him in the world! In his sorrow he in- 
quires and is informed where Jesus was; he had 
heard all that had been said of Him, and he learns 
that Jesus had left Judea and had gone to Galilee. 
Then, fearing that Jesus would arrive too late at 
Capharnaum, he determines to set out to meet Him 
and to ask Him to hasten His journey. He will not 



314 Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost. 

entrust this mission to any one, but leaves his son to 
seek assistance for him. He departs without think- 
ing of the length of the journey or the fatigue. 
Have for the salvation of your soul the eagerness 
which this father had for the health of his son, and 
you shall discover, as he did, all that contributes to 
your health, your sanctification, and your perfec- 
tion; you shall not be arrested either by human 
respect or by shame of confessing your faults, or by 
the difficulties of the sacrifices you may make. 

If the officer of Capharnaum now gives you a 
lesson by his eagerness in going to find Jesus, he 
gives you another, no less important, by the fervor 
of his prayer. Hardly had he found Jesus than 
he begged Him to come and heal his dear sick one. 
But Jesus said to him, *' Unless you see miracles 
and wonders you do not believe,** and the officer in- 
sists by saying, "Come, Lord, before my son dies." 
The prayer of this man was indeed defective, be- 
cause he seemed to think that Jesus could not heal 
his son except He was near him; but how admi- 
rable are his fervor, his humility, and especially his 
perseverance ! A confidence less solid should fail 
before a reproach which had all the appearances of 
a refusal; but, far from being disconcerted, he 
humbles himself and gives to his prayer a fresh 
energy. He exclaimed: ''Lord, my son is near 
dying; hasten, I conjure you; come quickly before 
he dies.*' O happy father, not to be rejected ! His 
perseverance is rewarded. Jesus said to him : '' Go, 
your son is healed." Strive to know the Master 



Jesus Heals the Son of the Officer. 315 

whom you serve. If He defers hearing you, if He 
seems to reject you, it is His love which prompts 
Him to act so and for your greater good. Ask 
Him, therefore, in confidence, but ask Him with an 
entire resignation to the designs of Providence, for 
all temporal goods, health of body, success in your 
studies, success in your enterprises; if He refuse 
you, then believe it is for your interest and bow 
down to His holy will. Ask Him for spiritual 
goods. God owes them to you. Ask them of Him 
eagerly and with perseverance, and rest assured 
He shall grant you always more than you ask of 
Him. 

Second Point, — Consider the beginning, the prog- 
ress, and the recompense of this man who comes 
to implore the healing of his son. His faith is not 
an enlightened one ; the idea which he had formed 
of Jesus after what he had heard of Him in Caphar- 
naum was very imperfect. He believed, it is true, 
that Jesus could heal his son, but he did not be- 
lieve He could heal him without seeing him, touch- 
ing him, and speaking with him. He did not know 
that Jesus could work miracles at a distance as well 
as near at hand, when absent as well as when pres- 
ent, and that a single act of His will was sufficient. 
He was far from believing that Jesus was the Son 
of God, God Himself, the Creator and Master of the 
universe. Have you a more precise idea of Jesus? 
Have you such an idea as faith gives and demands? 
Should the divine Master address you as He once 
addressed the apostles, ''What think you of Me?'* 



3i6 Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost. 

could you respond without hesitation and with the 
same assurance as St. Peter: ''You are the Christ, 
the Son of the living God"? 

The progress of his faith. The reprimand of the 
Saviour had made an impression on this man ; and 
when he heard Jesus in tones of authority pro- 
nounce these words of hope, "Your son is healed/' 
he believed in the words of Jesus, and departed 
fully persuaded his son should be restored to him. 
Therefore he believed in this miracle without hav- 
ing seen it ; he ceased to be of the number of those 
of whom Jesus had just spoken, who did not be- 
lieve unless they had seen. 

On his return the servants, who had been wit- 
nesses of the sudden healing of their young master, 
met him and said: "Your son liveth.*' At this 
happy news, he does not permit his heart to in- 
dulge in vain joy. He forgets himself and thinks 
only of his Benefactor. This prodigious event 
shall have for him practical and important conse- 
quences. He asks of the servants at what hour his 
son got better, and recognized it was at that very 
moment that Jesus said: "Your son is healed.'' 
"He believed, and his whole house with him." 
Then it was that he understood that Jesus had not 
only predicted the healing, but had also accom- 
plished it. He was struck at the sight of a power 
so divine, and he believed not only in the words of 
Jesus, but in Jesus Himself. He recognized Him 
as the Son of God, the promised Messias, and the 
Saviour of the world. May your faith in Jesus 



Jesus Heals the Son of the Officer. 317 

likewise grow in proportion to the benefits you 
receive from Him. 

Recompense of his faith. The first recompense 
which this happy father received was the restora- 
tion of his son to health. What reward for his 
long journey, his fatigues, and his sacrifices ! And 
for us, also, our first and sweetest recompense when 
we shall sincerely seek Jesus shall be the healing 
of our soul. We shall recover the beauty of virtue, 
peace of heart, and the friendship of God and our 
rights to heaven. What a happiness ! Can we ever 
do too much to merit this? 

The second recompense' he received was the per- 
fection of his faith. The faith of this man which 
came from seeking Jesus was indeed generous ; but, 
observe, it was also an enlightened faith. When he 
had left Jesus it had received a wonderful increase 
which exalted it to the very perfection of faith. 
He believed without reserve the words of Jesus, 
regarding Him as the Messias, the one by whom 
alone we can have access to God. And not content 
with believing in Him, he inspired his whole house- 
hold with his faith, and gained for Jesus all those 
hearts over whom he had authority. God does not 
cease to lavish His blessings on you, but shall they 
serve to increase your love for Him and your zeal 
for His glory? 

Who could not grieve for this man when he saw 
his son, whom he loved so much, at the point of 
death! And still, that very circumstance which 
made him an object of compassion in the eyes of 



3i8 Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost. 

men was the means of leading him and his house- 
hold to Jesus. Oh, how little we understand our 
true interests when we complain of God and mur- 
mur against the dispositions of His providence! 
Ah, rather than murmur, let us adore the profound 
wisdom of God, directing us in all things. After 
the example of the model we have just studied, let 
us also profit by sickness and afflictions. They 
should prompt us to have recourse to God, to unite 
us with Him intimately, and to detach us from the 
world more and more. 



TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

THE INSOLVENT SERVANT, 

TN the Gospel of to-day there are three circum- 
stances which present themselves for our con- 
• sideration : the clemency of the master towards 
his insolvent servant, the cruelty of this servant 
towards his debtor, and the justice of the master 
with regard to this heartless servant. 

First Point. — " The kingdom of heaven is like to 
a king who would take an account with his ser- 
vants; but when he began to make this accounting, 
there was one who owed him ten thousand talents." 
The King who demands an account of His ser- 
vants is God, the Sovereign Lord of the universe; 
his servants are the entire human race. Yes, we 
are all the servants of God ; we all have an account 
opened with Him. This account must be made to 
Him willingly or unwillingly, either in this life at 
the tribunal of His mercy, or in the next life at the 
tribunal of His justice. 

The servant of whom there is question now owed 
ten thousand talents, and for this large amount was 
indebted to his master. What an enormous sum, 
especially for that time! Jesus here employs a 
hyperbolic expression, and wishes to make us un- 
derstand the extent of the debt which we have 
contracted with Divine Justice and the little pro- 



320 Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost. 

portion which exists between our sins which have 
offended God and the wrongs with which we can 
reproach our neighbors. This reproach serves to 
demonstrate the goodness of God, who remits our 
debt and our injustice, although we refuse to par- 
don our brethren. Recall now, if you can, the sins 
without number which make up the immense debt 
which we owe to Divine Justice, and see what should 
be our condition if God had treated us according to 
our merits. 

" As the servant had not wherewith to pay, his 
master ordered that he should be sold and his 
wife and his children and all he possessed.*' This 
was the ancient law with regard to insolvent 
debtors. The lot reserved for an impenitent sin- 
ner is still more terrible. You know what awaits 
him, and, strange to say, you rest in greatest tran- 
quillity. Oh! in the name of your dearest and 
best interests, do not sleep in this sad tranquillity, 
but while there is yet time imitate the servant of 
the Gospel and profit by the lesson he gives you. 
" He casts himself at the feet of his master and 
conjuring him says. Have patience with me and I 
shall pay thee all I owe.'* But you are still more 
insolvent than he ; you have no other resource than 
the bounty of the Master whom you have so crim- 
inally outraged. Therefore prostrate yourselves 
before the Divine Mercy ; however great the debt 
you owe Him, it shall be pardoned you if your re- 
pentance is sincere. 

" The master of the servant had pity on him and 



Tlie Insolvent Servant, 321 

let him go." O admirable effect of repentance! 
Hardly has the sinner confessed and deplored his 
fault than mercy pronounces the happy sentence 
which pardons. All his sins have been pardoned, 
they have been effaced, they have disappeared, 
they are as if they had never been. "I shall re- 
member them no more,'* said the Lord. Oh, how 
consoling are these thoughts and words! Oh, how 
unhappy and how blind you should be if you 
should refuse a pardon which can be obtained on 
a condition so easy ! 

Second Point. — '' But when that servant was gone 
out he met one of his fellow-servants that owed 
him a hundred pence, and laying hold of him he 
throttled him, saying : ' Pay what thou owest. * And 
his fellow-servant falling down besought him, say- 
ing, 'Have patience with me and I shall pay thee 
all;* and he would not, but went and cast him into 
prison until he paid the debt. Now his fellow-ser- 
vants were indignant, and told their lord all that 
had been done." And why should they not be in- 
dignant at the conduct of this servant, who, at the 
very moment he was the object of such great good- 
newSS on the part of his master, should treat his com- 
panion with so much cruelty? The indignation is 
redoubled when we compare what was due him 
with what had been remitted — the enormous sum 
of ten thousand talents, which the generosity of 
the master had remitted, and the small debt of one 
hundred pence, the payment of which he requires 

with so much heartless rigor. 
21 



32 2 Twcjity-first Sunday after Pentecost. 

Without doubt, you applaud the conduct of the 
other servants, who, in their indignation, inform 
the master of what has happened. But shall not 
the angels one day give testimony against you? 
While 5'ou implore God to pardon you your faults, 
the immense debt which God is ready to pardon 
you with a liberality which is truly royal, do you 
not refuse to pardon your neighbor the slight 
wrong he may have done you? Understand it 
well. The pardon of injuries and the love of ene- 
mies are contained in the precept of charity; or, 
rather, there is no charity possible without the ful- 
filment of this twofold duty. In fact, it was not 
necessary for Jesus to come and tell us to love 
those who love us; this is the friendship which was 
known before the coming of Christ. It was not 
necessary that He should teach us to do good to 
the unfortunate, to pardon an enemy, since benefi- 
cence and clemency were known and practised be- 
fore His coming. Thus Jesus, by imposing charity 
on us, has only anticipated us in our duties, and 
does not limit Himself to that. You know that He 
has said : " I tell you to love your enemies, do good 
to those that hate you, pray for those who perse- 
cute and calumniate you, that you may be worthy 
children of your heavenly Father who makes the 
sun rise on the good and the wicked. For if you 
love only those that love you, what recompense 
shall you deserve?*' Weigh well these words, and 
see what we should think of those Christians who 
call themselves Christians and refuse to pardon ; or 



The Insolvent Servant. 323 

of those \vho pardon and refuse to be reconciled ; 
or of those who are reconciled themselves, but re- 
fuse to see their enemies reconciled. It is a singu- 
lar charity which has the same effects as hatred ! 
You say: '* I pardon him, but I do not wish to see 
him or speak to him ;" and what more could you do, 
if you should hate him ? 

Third Point, — ''Then the master being angry 
delivered him to the executioners of justice until 
he had paid the debt. Thus shall your heavenly 
Father treat every one of you, if you do not pardon 
your brother from the bottom of your heart." Who 
shall not applaud the conduct of the master, which 
is so full of justice? But at the same time, how 
can we not see our condemnation if we imitate the 
inhuman servant, if we preserve enmities against 
our brethren? We shall be as culpable as God has 
been indulgent towards us. " Wicked servant, I for- 
gave you all the debt, because you besought Me; 
should you not have had pity on your companion, 
as I had pity on you?'* This reproach on the lips of 
Jesus is a charitable means of engaging us to love 
our enemies by recalling His own examples; for 
here, as everywhere, He imposes on us nothing 
that He Himself has not done first. It is love 
for His enemies that made Him descend from 
the splendors of heaven to the poverty of a stable. 
It is love for His enemies which, in the course of 
His mortal life, engaged Him to pour out His bene- 
fits on a people who repaid Him by ingratitude. It 
is love for His enemies which made Him ascend 



324 Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost, 

the altar of the cross, there to reconcile by His 
blood sinners with the God whom they had out- 
raged. It is love for His enemies which dictated 
these admirable words : " Father, forgive them ; 
they know not what they do." After having given 
us such examples, Jesus had the right to impose on 
us the obligation of pardoning offences and loving 
enemies. Oh, may you comprehend the extent of 
your duties in this matter ! May the God of charity 
give you the strength to fulfil your duties; then 
you shall see realized for you these delightful 
words : " Blessed are they who are merciful, for 
they shall obtain mercy.'* 



TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

RENDER TO C^SAR THE THINGS WHICH ARE 
CESAR'S. 

nrWO masters dispute for the possession of your 
heart, God and the world. God, who created 
• • • it, is the legitimate possessor of it; and the 
world, which has not even a secondary right, 
however, wishes that you should give it entirely 
to its service. In the Gospel of to-day Jesus de- 
cides the question and fixes all your duties. He 
decides the rights, and He yields a part of them to 
the world ; but what He retains He demands, and 
He makes it a rigorous obligation for you to re- 
serve them for Him. The goods which God has 
given us are of two kinds : personal goods which 
are within us, and external goods which are out- 
side of us ; and we should know what God requires 
in both. 

First Point, — The personal goods of which God 
demands His share are, first, your thoughts. Our 
thoughts are in some manner our children, the 
children of our soul ; the most precious products of 
the noblest of mothers — our intelligence. It is why 
God demands them : He wishes that our thoughts 
should be directed to Him and not to creatures; 
that the^^ should be occupied with Him and not 



326 Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost, 

with the vanities of the world. It is why He said 
to the spouse, that is, to every just soul : " Place Me 
as a seal on your heart \' which signifies : Think of 
Me often, think of Me always if it is possible. 
But the world disputes our thoughts with God ; as 
another Pharao it overwhelms us with labors and 
with earthly cares, to hinder us from offering to 
God the constant sacrifice. What shall we do? 
Shall we wisely share our thoughts between God 
and the world, and give only to the world what we 
should give to Him? And so, you are occupied 
with your family, with your studies, with the fu- 
ture, even with your pleasures! Very well; but on 
condition that there shall not pass a day, not an 
hour of the day, in which you shall not think of 
God, of your soul, of your eternity. And oh, how 
many reasons for that ! Eternity is everything for 
you ; your soul is the most noble part of you. God 
is your Creator, your last end, the most noble and 
worthy object of your thoughts and of your love. 
Has he given you an intelligence thirsting to know 
Him, that you should engage it only in frivolous 
objects? Has He given you a heart anxious to love 
Him, that you should employ it in affections for 
creatures? Impossible! To think so would con- 
tradict the lights of reason and the teachings of 
faith. 

Another personal good are your words and dis- 
courses. What is the ordinary and perhaps the 
exclusive object of your words? The earth and 
the things of the earth ; the body and all that can 



Render to CcEsar the Things zuhich are Ccesar' s. 327 

adorn and flatter it; the miserable news of the 
world, and a thousand foolish things unworthy of a 
reasonable being. This is an injustice. Who has 
given you the gift of speech — this admirable gift 
by which your intelligence communicates with 
other intelligences, and reveals to them its 
thoughts and its will? God alone. Now it is 
only just that what comes from Him should con- 
tribute to His glory. Let your words, therefore, 
have sometimes God and the things of God for 
their object; if you love Him your mouth should 
speak of Him often, for the mouth speaks from the 
abundance of the heart. If you speak so often of 
the world, of the vanity of the things of the world, 
it is because you love the world and its vanity. 
Watch, therefore, that the love of created things 
does not take entire possession of your heart. If it 
is already smitten by it, have recourse to prayer to 
obtain the grace to be set free from affections un- 
worthy of a Christian. Speak of the things of the 
world only as much as your position and circum- 
stances require, but let the dearest subjects of 
your conversation be of God and the things which 
pertain to eternity. 

Our works are a third personal good which we 
should know how to share with God. The world 
seeks to have us exclusively in its service. The 
most part of men live, labor, and annoy themselves 
night and day for the world. Like to the insects, 
they come and go incessantly, to procure for them- 
selves clothing and nourishment, to amass riches, 



328 Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost. 

and to acquire honors. The Lord condemns this 
disturbing activity when He exclaims: " Do not lay 
up treasures on earth which worms destroy and 
thieves take away, but lay up treasures in heaven 
which the worms or robbers cannot take away/* 
Do not labor alwa}^s for the world and the interests 
of this life, but labor for your soul, for God, and for 
eternity. May you be able to say every day: I 
have lived and labored for heaven : I have sent into 
eternity some good work for which I shall receive 
a recompense. If the Emperor Titus, although a 
pagan, considered as lost a day passed without 
having done some good, what should be the senti- 
ments of a Christian who meditates on these words: 
" What shall it profit a man to gain the whole 
world and lose his soul?'* 

Second Point. — There are other goods, which are 
not within us, which are given us by God or which 
are the exterior fruit of our labors; we should 
equally share them with the Sovereign Master. 
One of these exterior goods and the most precious 
is time. We owe to God a part of the days He has 
given us. He Himself has made the division. He 
has determined what days we should give Him 
and what days we may give to the world. "You 
shall observe the seventh day,'* He says in the 
book of Exodus, " for it is holy, and I reserve it 
for myself." It is then a sacrilegious theft to take 
from God the Sundays and festival days, to sacrifice 
them to the world, by employing them in labor and 
in profane pleasures. It is to despise His law, to 



Render to CcEsar the Things which are Ccesar's. 329 

deprive Him of His glory, and to prefer before 
Him the demon and our passions. What a shame, 
and what a crime! God will be avenged for this 
audacious sacrilege. He curses on the earth and 
He will curse in eternity those who thus outrage 
Him. Never be guilty of this profanation ; give 
to the world what belongs to it, but learn to give 
to God what is His. How have you hitherto ful- 
filled this duty? 

We should also share with God another exterior 
good, which is the fruit of our labors and the bene- 
diction of heaven; it is our fortune. Abel offered 
to God victims taken from his flock. Noe, Abra- 
ham, and the other patriarchs offered sacrifices to 
the Lord, and Solomon sacrificed more gold in the 
construction and ornamentation of the temple than 
in the erection of his palace. The pagans under- 
stood this law, which is so just. Reason had told 
them that man owed to the divinity a part of the 
goods he had received ; and hence they offered on 
the altar the first fruits of the earth. And you, 
should you give nothing to God? But, you say, 
what can I give Him? Behold His temples and 
His altars naked, the ornaments and the vessels 
which are employed in the sacrifice poor and un- 
worthy of His majesty. Would it be difficult to take 
some time, to retrench some vanity, to contribute 
to embellish the house of God or decorate His 
altars? You have some poor before your eyes; 
God has placed them there to afford you the oppor- 
tunity of lending to Him in usury, since " He that 



330 Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost. 

gives to the poor lends to the Lord/* Give then 
to the brethren of Jesus a part of the goods that 
God has lent to you, and thereby lay up treasures 
for heaven. 

In fine, there are souls that have lived on earth 
for you, who have labored for you, and you, per- 
haps, are enriched at the expense of their souls. 
You now enjoy their labors, while they, perhaps, 
suffer the torments of purgatory because of you. 
Your duty is to make some sacrifice for them, to 
sacrifice some of the riches which they have ac- 
quired for you; such is the manner of sharing be- 
tween God and the world your personal goods — 
thoughts, words, actions, and external goods — your 
time and your fortune. Think of these things; 
they are of the highest importance in view of eter- 
nal salvation. Fear, by neglect of these duties, to 
die poor in good works and to appear empty-handed 
before the Judge who has said: ''Give to God the 
things which are God's.*' 



TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

RESURRECTION OF THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS. 

IN the miracle which Jesus wrought in favor of 
the daughter of Jairus we should especially 

• consider three things: of whom is this young 
girl the image, the conditions of the sinner's re- 
turn to grace, and the marks of a true return to 
God. 

First Pomt, — Of whom is this young girl the 
image? She is yours; because she was young, full 
of health, loved by her father, adored by her mother. 
She promised herself long years, and in her gracious 
carelessness she smiled on the world, which ex- 
tended its arms to her. However, she dies — this 
only daughter, this rich heiress, this youthful 
beauty. Neither the nobleness of her blood, nor 
the dignities of her family, nor wealth, nor youth, 
were able to preserve her from death. She is your 
image, because you yourself, from one moment to 
another, may fall under the stroke of death, as the 
fragile .flower falls under the scythe of the har- 
vester. 

Woe to this young girl, if, captivated by the 
pleasures of the world, she has loved it to the 
detriment of her eternal interests ; if the desire to 



332 Twenty 'third Sunday after Pentecost, 

please it made her forget God ; if the care of her 
body made her forget her soul ; if she has cultivated 
her beauty to attract adorers ; if, proud of her advan- 
tages, she has opened her heart to pride and allowed 
it to fall into vain projects — what a misfortune for 
her, and what a folly ! Death has destroyed every- 
thing, and her projects and her desires have per- 
ished. What misfortune also for you, if you imitate 
her in her ardor for the things of the world and her 
carelessness for the things of heaven. Death shall 
come to destroy everything, both the vanity of your 
projects and the folly of your illusions. 

On seeing her, Jesus exclaimed : '' The girl is 
not dead, but sleepeth." It was impossible bet- 
ter to express the effect of sin in a soul hitherto 
innocent. This first fault, it is true, brings her 
death, but the return to life is so easy that this 
death is rather a sleep than a real death. The 
heart cannot be corrupted; conscience has not lost 
its first delicacy; all the principles of life, so to 
speak, are living — the breath of grace is all that is 
needed to reanimate them. See also in what this 
young girl is your image. You have sinned, but 
your heart is not perverted ; every sentiment is not 
extinguished; the habit is not formed. All the 
happy impressions of virtue which you have received 
still live, and a little good will is all that is neces- 
sary to restore you to grace. May you understand 
and profit by all these elements of santification. 

Second Point. — Jesus begins by sending away the 
band of musicians who make a great tumult in this 



Resurrect ion of the Daughter of Jairus. 2>?>Z 

house where life must re-enter. He thus indicates 
to us the ordinary cause which leads to neglect in 
the souls of sinners, of whom this young girl is the 
image; also the first condition of a return to God. 
There carelessness has commenced with a taste for 
pleasures. There is in worldly diversions — in 
parties, balls, spectacles — a deadly vapor which 
penetrates the heart and excites it. Do not hope 
to return to the fervor of your first piety as long 
as you shall live in the midst of the agitation of 
the world. The cloud of dust which envelops the 
worldly soul hides from it the sight of God and 
the sight of duty. In retreat, on the contrary, the 
heart looks upon itself; it sees its state, it hears 
the voice of God, and nothing can hinder it from 
responding to His appeal. If, then, you wish to 
preserve grace, or to recover it, fly every occasion, 
all society, all reading calculated to lead you to 
dissipation. Do you hope to resist your passions 
in the midst of all that nourishes and develops 
them ? Do you think that you can preserve your 
virtue for a long time, when you expose it to the 
seductions which corrupt it? Do you think you 
can remain pious, recollected, fervent, and devoted 
to duty in the midst of objects which dissipate the 
heart, excite the imagination, and bring distaste for 
every duty? To believe it is the saddest of illu- 
sions. Alas, how many victims this illusion has 
already made ! 

Jesus, having dismissed the clamorous crowd 
which surrounded the young girl, approached her, 



334 Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost. 

and taking her by the hand said to her: "Young 
girl, arise! it is I who command you/' Thus it is 
that God approaches the sinner in the measure that 
he separates from the world ; He takes him by the 
hand. This is the grace which comes to assist our 
weakness. "Return to God/' said Cardinal Wise- 
man, "and do not fear the difficulties; when you 
would sincerely return to good, God shall place His 
hand in yours and you shall overcome every ob- 
stacle.'' O powerful Hand, Thou unitest Thyself 
to a hand which is cold in death; Thou deignest to 
touch a corpse, and Thou givest it warmth, move- 
ment, and life ! O vivifying Voice, Thou piercest 
the depths of the abyss; the empire of Death is 
shaken by Thee; she recognizes her Conqueror, 
and Thou compellest her to restore the prey of 
which she took possession. Speak to my heart, O 
Jesus, and if it resists speak to it more loudly and 
its life shall be restored. It is only Thou, O my 
God, who, by the application of Thy merits and 
the interior voice of Thy grace, can recall me to 
life. 

Third Point, — Signs of rCvSurrection to grace. At 
this word of Jesus, " Arise !" the soul re-entered the 
body which she had abandoned, and "immediately 
the young girl arose and walked. And Jesus com- 
manded that they should give her food to eat." 
As the soul is the principle of human life, the Holy 
Spirit is the principle of the supernatural life. If 
the soul has truly risen, the Holy Spirit dwells 
there again. His presence is revealed by signs 



Resurrection of the Daughter of J aims. 335 

which cannot be mistaken. Upon entering the 
heart He spreads there a certain recollection, a 
taste for the things of God, which contrast with 
the old habits of dissipation and the pleasures 
which made up her worldly life. The spirit of 
pride has given place to the spirit of modesty and 
humility ; charity succeeds hatred ; liberality suc- 
ceeds selfishness. The habits of life are as differ- 
ent as the dispositions of the heart. He who only 
frequented worldly assemblies is pleased in the 
midst of sacred assemblies; virtuous friends sur- 
round him whom corrupting friends had seduced 
and led away ; charity pours into the hands of the 
poor the money which vanity dispensed in foolish 
ornaments ; w^ords of salvation and edification fall 
from his lips, which were opened only in false- 
hood and frivolity ; visits to the amiable Guest of 
the Tabernacle replace the useless visits which be- 
got idleness; the Spirit of God has re-entered this 
soul. 

Jesus commands that food shall be given the 
young girl whom He has just restored, and thus 
compels the most obstinate minds to recognize the 
miracle which His power had just wrought. The 
divine Master has prepared for us in the Holy 
Eucharist the food which is best suitable to sustain 
and develop our life as Christians. He who ap- 
proaches it, and approaches it often, shall find the 
strength to combat, lights in his doubts, consola- 
tions in his sorrows, and supernatural life shall flow 
in on him with superabundance. The careless 



;^^6 Twenty-tJiird Sunday after Pentecost. 

soul who remains away from it exposes herself 
to see the life of grace languish and little by little 
become completely extinct in her. The desire of 
this heavenly bread and the eagerness to be nour- 
ished by it are the index of the soul whom the Holy 
Spirit animates by His breath and enlightens by 
His lights. 

O divine Jesus, Thou givest life to the sinner, 
and Thou makest even the dead hear. Speak to my 
heart as Thou spoke to the daughter of Jairus. 
Grant that I may arise and walk, that I may receive 
with spiritual hunger the food Thou presentest to 
me, in order that I may live by Thy spirit and be 
nourished by Thy flesh, and that by a holy life I 
may come to share Thy glory. 



TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 

THE TRIALS OF THE CHURCH. 

"'T'HERE shall be then great tribulation, such as 
hath not been from the beginning of the 
• • ' world until now, neither shall be." 

There is nothing more remarkable than the des- 
tiny of the Church of God on earth. She is a vessel 
launched on the ocean of time, and destined to be 
buffeted constantly by wind and storm. The per- 
secution which she shall suffer at the end of time 
shall be, it is true, the most terrible of all, al- 
though in every century of her existence persecu- 
tors have arisen against her. The first enemy with 
which she had to contend was Judaism. The Jews, 
who had put Jesus to death, wished to stifle His 
religion in its very cradle; the high-priests, the 
doctors, the scribes, the Pharisees, and the chiefs 
of all the people were against her. But it may be 
asked : Was it necessary that so much opposition 
should be raised against her who was so weak, so 
small, and on the first day of her existence? The 
answer is No, emphatically No, if she had been a 
human institution. But she was not a human in- 
stitution ; she was divine, and God who had founded 
her sustained her. And far from falling a victim 



^;^S Twenty -four til Sunday after Pentecost, 

by persecution, she acquired countless disciples. 
Driven from Jerusalem and Palestine, she sends 
her apostles to all parts of the world, and to the 
conquests she had already made she shall add new 
ones ; but she shall purchase them as she did the 
first — ^at the price of the best blood of her children. 
Hardly had the Church spoken to pagan nations 
that word which announced the glad tidings, than 
she counted innumerable disciples — at Athens, as 
well as at Rome; among the Scythians, Arabians, 
and Persians, as well as among the Egyptians. At 
the sight of these triumphs idolatry trembled for 
its false deities. The emperors took up arms 
against this new power and began the era of blood 
and persecution. From one corner to the other of 
the Roman empire the Christians were tracked by 
savage beasts ; denounced as traitors, placed under 
the ban of the empire as infamous people, they 
were put to the rack and the flames and the lions; 
every citizen was ordered to denounce them, and 
every governor of a province was charged to put 
them to death. It was a prodigy unheard of, and 
history would not believe it if it were not compelled 
to record it in its annals. But the order of things 
was reversed. Causes have produced effects oppo- 
site to those which they should have produced. 
The Caesars, instead of stifling religion, had given 
it a new life. Edicts of proscription propagated it 
more rapidl)i than it would have done by the 
peaceful preaching of millions of apostles; the 
blood of the martyrs had become the seed of 



The Trials of the Church, 339 

Christianity. Who cannot see here the finger of 
God? 

But it was not enough for the Church to have 
combated against Judaism and idolatry. Intestine 
strife, more terrible for a society and a kingdom 
than external foes, arose to show clearly that God 
sustained His Church. The great heresy which 
threatened the Church with ruin commenced in the 
fourth century. It was propagated and came to 
life under different names until the sixteenth 
century, when it made its grand development. 
The apostles of heresy were sometimes powerful 
in words and works. Has it not produced an Arius 
and a Luther? Heresy opposed the Church more 
terribly than the Roman emperors. Arius found 
assistance in the legions of the Emperor Constance. 
Luther was supported by the German princes and 
the revolting peasants. But the same power which 
caused the Church to triumph over the Jews and 
pagans made her triumph over heresy, and the new 
triumph was another proof of her divine origin. 

Rationalism in its turn declared war against the 
Church, and what a war! As bold as the prince 
of Jewish priests and Roman emperors, it attacked 
individuals and went so far as to shed blood. It 
was more impious than heresy, since it was not 
limited, to a contest on some disputed point of doc- 
trine. Rationalism attacked everything. Rous- 
seau denied revelation ; Hume held that the dis- 
tinction between good and evil was arbitrary; 
Helvetius preached materialism; Diderot made 



340 Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, 

Atheists ; Voltaire combined them all — at the head 
of the philosophic cohort he was soldier and gen- 
eral. At this epoch everything was employed to 
destroy religion — resources of genius and admi- 
rable talents, scientific studies and historical evi- 
dences, calumnies and sarcasm, but the Church 
triumphed over them all. The triumph she has 
won in the sequence of ages over all her enemies 
must assure us, in the midst of trials which assail 
her now, that she shall rise from them, as ever, 
purer and more glorious. 

Second Point, — What we should do in time of 
persecution. Our first duty is to humble ourselves 
before God and strive to appease His anger. All 
the evils which bring sorrow to the Church, all the 
trials by which human society is afflicted come 
from the sins of men. Perhaps these trials are 
provoked by our own personal iniquities. We 
should then strike our breast, and by our tears 
appease the tempests which our crimes have un- 
chained. This was the conduct of the saints. The 
prophet Daniel was not responsible for the sins 
which occasioned the captivity of the Jews in 
Babylon ; however, he numbered himself among 
the guilty ones. '' We have sinned, '* he said ; , " we 
have committed iniquities. We merit only con- 
fusion for our sins, we, our kings, and our princes, 
and our fathers.'' The holy priest Esdras thus 
spoke to God : " My God, I am covered with shame 
and I do not dare to lift my eyes to Thee, because 
our iniquities have ascended to heaven." Strive 



The Trials of the Church. 341 

to entertain these sentiments so suitable to a Chris- 
tian heart, and in the trials which beset the Church 
here below be careful lest you regard yourself 
guiltless. 

In the troubles which afflict the Church we should 
not content ourselves with being humble ; but we 
should pray for her. This duty our blessed Sav- 
iour points out in the Gospel of to-day, when He 
says: *' Pray that your flight be not in the winter.'* 
This He recommends most formally in the words 
of Ezechiel : " I have sought for a man who would 
restrain my anger against my people, and I have 
not found him, and I have been forced to give full 
vent to my vengeance." These words, "I have 
sought for a man," should make us tremble. Alas, 
perhaps you are that unthinking soul who betrays 
the cause of the Church by neglecting its interests 
and by doing nothing for her glory. When God 
seeks some one to arrest His anger, it is a sign He 
wishes to pardon, and if He does not pardon it 
is our own fault ; we have not prayed, or we have 
prayed without suitable dispositions. Henceforth, 
fulfil this duty with greatest fidelity. Pray with 
a pure heart, with fervor, with perseverance, that 
God may shorten the days of trial for good Chris- 
tians. Ask that His Church may increase and flour- 
ish more and more every day, until the coming of 
the great day, which shall see all the enemies of our 
divine Saviour conquered. 

Our third duty in the time of trouble and scandal 
is to cling most tenaciously to the teachings of the 



342 Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost. 

Church. "There shall arise/* says the Saviour, 
"false Christs and false prophets; if then some 
one tells you Christ is here, or there, do not be- 
lieve it/' To follow this warning remember these 
two principles: First, the faith of the Church is in- 
variable ; that which was believed in the days of the 
apostles is still believed, and shall be believed to 
the end of the world. Thus every novelty should 
be rejected, every new doctrine should be con- 
demned beforehand and should not seduce us. To 
believe and to be saved : this is all the Christian 
should know and practise. 

The second principle which shall preserve you 
from all error is that the Church is Catholic, that 
is to say, is universal. It follows that Christ is nei- 
ther in this or that sect. Be on your guard against 
every particular doctrine; remain firmly attached 
to the Church which is Catholic, Apostolic, and 
Roman ; whose faith is as old as herself and as 
extended as the world. She is the pillar of truth 
on which you must stand in the midst of the fluctuat- 
ing and uncertain teachings of the times in which 
we live. She is the bark of Peter which has lived 
through tempest and storm, and w^hich shall se- 
curely conduct you to the haven of safety. 



FEAST OF ALL SAINTS. 

November ist. 

DIFFICULTIES AND RECOMPENSE OF SANCTITY. 

\ A/HEN we recall the virtues which the saints 
have practised, and the happiness which is 
• • • now their sweet and glorious recompense, 
we should reflect how their examples destroy every 
excuse which our sloth constantly invents to ex- 
empt us from walking in their footsteps. 

First Point. — The first excuse which we allege to 
exempt us from being saints is taken from the 
difficulties of sanctity in itself. We are wont to 
make of the saints a class of beings apart, a sepa- 
rate race, invested with some perfections inacces- 
sible to the rest of Christians— a sublime exception 
in Christianity. Nothing is more false than this 
idea of sanctity. We employ it, however, to be 
free from the care of being holy. It is a strategy 
of nature, it is an error employed as a pretext to 
indulge in sloth. Unquestionably in the lives of 
the saints we meet with marvellous phenomena; 
God honors them with a familiarity which seems 
sometimes to separate them from us; He allows 
His love to fall on them in a manner which aston- 
ishes us, and they oftentimes respond to these 
gifts of God by an immolation of themselves which 



344 Feast of all Saints, 

not only terrifies but astonishes us. Th»ese are, if 
you wish, recompenses, privileges, and marvels of 
their sanctity, but it is not their sanctity itself. 
The saints are what we Christians are, but they are 
better than we are. We are ordinary Christians, 
while the saints are eminent Christians; we are 
only soldiers, they are heroes. We must admit 
there is in sanctity a certain degree of perfection 
which only heroic souls attain. But we can be saints 
without rising so high, and the degree of virtue 
necessary to be a saint, in the ordinary sense of the 
word, has nothing which should terrify our courage. 

The command which I give you, said the Lord, 
is not beyond you. To observe it, it is not neces- 
sary to quit the world and to bury yourself in soli- 
tude ; but it is within reach of every one, and its 
observance demands only the simplest require- 
ments and the most ordinary works. How many 
saints are happy in heaven now who have done 
nothing on earth which has won for them the 
admiration of men ! St. Augustine says that God 
is pleased to sanctify them in the obscurity of an 
ordinary life. Who is the servant in the Gospel 
whom we see rewarded ? Is it not he who has been 
faithful in little things? Sanctity does not consist 
in doing extraordinary things. No; but it consists 
for all in fidelity to the duties of our state and in 
fulfilling them for God. There is nothing in that 
which is so difiicult. 

The Christian complains of the difficulty of vir- 
tue. But how can he dare to do so with the exam- 



Difficulties and Recompense of Sanctity. 345 

pie of the saints before him. Ah, if we had the 
choice between apostasy and the scaffold ! — if it 
were necessary for us to sell our goods, abandon 
our friends, and condemn ourselves to solitude, 
what should we say? Then it would be indeed 
difficult to be saints! And yet we should do it, 
since the saints have. But what sanctity demands 
of us is much less than all that. It is a question 
of loving a God who is amiability itself, and not 
offending a God who is our Friend, our Father, 
and our Saviour. What is there in that that is 
above and beyond our strength? 

The worldling complains of the difficulty of vir- 
tue. How does he who serves the world dare to 
say this? Ah! if there is something difficult, it is 
to please the world, to bow to its caprices, to sub- 
mit to all its requirements. But, O my God, Thou 
art good to all who serve Thee; amiable Master, 
Thou imposest precepts which are hard in appear- 
ance ; but it is only a pretext, since Thou hast hid- 
den sweetness under an apparent severity. 

Second Point. — Excuses drawn from exterior diffi- 
culties. Virtue meets in the world with rude and 
countless obstacles, it is true; but our error is to 
conclude from that that sanctity is impracticable 
for us. And, after all, what are the obstacles? 
They are, first, the attractions of pleasures. But is 
not the world for saints as well as for us? Have 
they not found the world as deceitful in its caresses, 
as contagious in its examples, as false in its maxims, 
and as seductive in its pleasures? We complain 



346 Feast of all Saints, 

of the tyranny which is exercised over our hearts, 
the love of worldly joys, the violence which we must 
do to hinder such amiable seduction ; but, let us ask, 
when was victory achieved without combat? Do 
you think it cost no violence to Magdalen, to St. 
Augustine, to St. Jerome, and countless others, to 
break the bonds which bound them to iniquity and 
attached them to the world? What, then, hinders 
you from breaking these bonds as they have done? 

There is another danger which awaits us, and 
one that is remarkable for the countless shipwrecks 
it has occasioned ; it is human respect. We could 
scarcely believe it were not our own eyes the wit- 
nesses of ito The fear of the world has become an 
obstacle to virtue. The Christian who wishes to 
serve his God must resolve to endure the railleries 
of libertines and the persecutions of the world ; but 
the saints also met human respect face to face, and 
with what courage they were able to trample it 
under their feet ! St. Paul was called to preach 
Christ crucified ; but the cross is a folly in the eyes 
of the Gentiles, a scandal for the Jev/s, and he 
knows all this! Still it is nothing to him ; Corinth, 
Rome, and Athens hear him preach the gospel of 
salvation freely. Let them despise him and calum- 
niate him, let the world rise against him — he re- 
gards the judgments of men as nothing. Do you 
think that this contempt which was shown him cost 
St. Paul no effort? 

St. Augustine had also to overcome all that is 
terrible in human respect. What a sensation was 



Difficulties and- Recompense of Sanctity, 347 

created in the whole city of Milan when he broke 
away from all his past career ! What railleries on 
the part of countless young libertines who were 
formerly his best friends ! But St. Augustine tri- 
umphed over these obstacles; and it was not this 
only he had to conquer, but he had to break with 
the most ardent passions and the most inveterate 
habits. This was difficult. He himself depicts for 
us the violence of his combats, his long irresolu- 
tions, when, rolling himself on the earth, tearing 
his hair, he cursed his slavery without being able 
to free himself from its bondage. But at last, sus- 
tained by that grace which is never wanting to us, 
he broke his chains and by a generous effort arose 
above all his weaknesses. When shall you have 
the happiness to triumph over yourselves? 

O my God, Thou who art in the highest heavens, 
surrounded by the immortal choirs of the elect, 
Thou who hast combated with so much courage. 
Thou beholdest my sloth and hearest my vain ex- 
cuses. What must be Thy indignation ! How shall 
I, one day, justify the monstrous contradiction 
which exists between my faith and my morals? 
What excuse shall I allege when Thou shalt point 
out to me saints of my own age and condition, 
who, in the midst of the same obstacles which ar- 
rest me, have remained faithful in the practice of 
all their duties? O my God, give me the strength 
to take them for my models. What happiness for 
me if, after having imitated their virtues, I may 
share their felicity and their glory! 



ALL SOULS' DAY. 

November 2d, 
COMMEMORATION OF THE DEAD. 

'T^O pray and to procure prayers for the dead is at 
once an act of charity towards our neighbor, 
• • • and an act of charity towards ourselves. 

First Point, — To pray for the dead is an act of 
charity towards our neighbor. One of the most im- 
portant acts of charity is almsgiving. Now, St. 
Francis de Sales says that in praying for the souls in 
purgatory there is a true almsgiving. When you 
pray for these poor souls you clothe their naked- 
ness, you furnish food for the hungry, you console 
the loneliness of those who are abandoned, you dry 
the tears of those who weep, and console the mis- 
fortune of those who are desolate; in a word, by 
this single act of praying for the dead you fulfil 
all the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. O 
charity for the dead, most worthy of exercising 
our faith and our piety ! How this excels all the 
other works of ordinary charity ! It has qualities 
which are wanting necessarily in other works of 
charity. It is most easy to perform, since we can 
always pray. It is opportune, since the need of 
the souls we assist is always real. It has the merit 



Commemoration of the Dead. 349 

of being well placed, since we assist the elect. It 
has permanency, since eternal reward results 
from it, if by our prayer a soul in purgatory ceases 
to suffer because she has entered forever into the 
bosom of her God. 

But there is a more decisive consideration. It is 
that this almsgiving is not only a duty of charity ; 
it is often a duty of justice. Here let us recall the 
past. Are there not among the souls in purgatory 
some parents, relatives, and friends of whom we 
were the occasion or the accomplices of the faults 
which they now expiate so rigorously? Are there 
not in purgatory some friends who suffer because 
they shared in the tepidity, the vanity, the useless- 
ness of our life? Are there not there a father, a 
mother, or relatives who are deprived of the happi- 
ness of seeing God only to expiate a fatal conde- 
scension in yielding to our weaknesses, sparing our 
sensibilities, by refusing us, through love, a coun- 
sel, a reprimand, when religion commanded them 
to counsel or reprove us? Here there is no ques- 
tion of exercising charity towards them ; it is a 
simple act of justice which we owe them to pray 
for them. We are now confronted by a great act 
of reparation. Let us pray, therefore, for these 
poor souls who are unhappy because of us. We 
should offer, or cause to be offered, for them the 
holy sacrifice of the Mass. It was for the dead that 
at first all the fruits of the sacrifice were applied ; 
since Jesus, after His death, descended into Limbo, 
whence He delivered the just of the Old Law by ap- 



350 All Souls' Day. 

plying to them the merits of the blood which He 
had just shed. The effects of this divine blood are 
still the same. When the priest, says St. John 
Chrysostom, offers the sacrifice of the Mass, the 
angels hasten near the altar; they gather in golden 
cups the blood of the New Alliance ; they then fly 
towards heaven, penetrate the darkened abodes of 
the just souls in which they are purified ; they pour 
out on them the precious blood, and their sufferings 
are lighter. 

Second Point, — To pray for the dead is an excel- 
lent act of charity towards ourselves. Let us cast a 
look on our past life. How many infidelities we 
see; how many days, how many years, perhaps, 
have passed without grace or without the fervor 
of charity! True, indeed, we have repented; the 
sacramental absolution, joined to our repentance, 
has covered, before God, all the iniquities of the 
past. But if the stain no longer exists in the soul, 
the debt for the soul always exists; the sin no 
longer exists, but the obligation of punishment re- 
mains. Now, what penance have we done? Al- 
though we should give ourselves to God henceforth 
during our whole life, it shall be no less true that 
the portion of our existence which is behind that 
has been taken from Him. It is a void which our 
tears shall never fill ; it is an abyss in which we 
shall look in vain for works of grace. It depends 
on ourselves to fill that void which seems irrepa- 
rable. We have deprived God of a portion of our 
existence, then let us give to Him in exchange an- 



Commemoration of the Dead, 351 

other existence. We have taken from Him a por- 
tion of our soul ; let us give to Him in exchange 
another soul ; let us give Him many souls, and as 
many as possible. Behold how by prayer for the 
dead we shall repair the past. 

Prayer for the dead shall be useful for us in the 
present. When these souls shall have been deliv- 
ered by our prayers, shall it be possible for them 
to remain indifferent to those who were here below 
the occasion and the instrument of their deliver- 
ance? Is not heaven the country of reward? Oh, 
how the delivered soul conjures God not to forget 
the souls who were on earth her benefactors! Oh, 
how in glory she intercedes and prays for us! in 
our temptations, w^hat assistance! in our sorrows, 
what consolations! in our prayers, what help! in 
our agony, what support! And on the day of 
judgment, when we must give an account of our 
mission to Him who sent us to earth, what an ad- 
vocate, what an intercessor we shall have prepared 
for ourselves by our charity ! Let us therefore un- 
derstand that by doing everything for the souls in 
purgatory we are doing everything for ourselves. 

And when at length it shall come our turn to 
quit this earth, and when it shall be necessary for 
us to suffer in expiation before reaching glory, how 
we shall rejoice at our charity to-day ! And then 
those souls unmindful of their brethren, who forget 
the dead, and who have in their heart neither a 
remembrance nor a prayer — God shall permit that 
they shall be forgotten, as they themselves forgot 



352 All Souls' Day. 

the dead. But on compassionate souls the words of 
the Son of God shall be accomplished : " It shall be 
measured for you, as you yourself have measured 
for others/' Their memory shall be treasured in 
the minds of the faithful as the memory of the 
dead remained living in their thoughts. They 
shall speak their name at the holy altar when they 
shall have pronounced the names of those who 
have preceded them in glory! Ah, how they shall 
then rejoice that they had heard the counsels of the 
Church and followed them ! How they shall praise 
those practices which were so easy and which shall 
have been for them so fruitful ! 

O my God, enkindle in my heart devotion for the 
dead. To pray for them is to contribute to Thy 
glory; it is to practise charity towards our neighbor 
and to labor for ourselves. May I understand it, 
and seize every opportunity of accomplishing a 
duty which is as much for the interests of my 
salvation as for the interests of Thy glory. 



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